Kenyan-Born Man Narrates Near-Death Attack that Ended His Career in the US Army

A Kenyan-born man has narrated how his life took an unexpected turn after he was attacked by an unknown gang in the US three years ago.

Cyprian Ondieki of Minnesota says he moved to the US when he was 19 years old to join his father who had relocated there a few years earlier.

In the US, Ondieki joined college before dropping out in his second semester to join the army. By this time, he admits, he had learned that life in the US is not a walk in the park as he had expected.
 
“I used to take student loans and travel to Kenya but in the second semester I could not continue with my studies and therefore I decided to join the army,” he said in an interview with RN Media.

Luckily, Ondieki was enlisted into the US Army and after completing his training and graduating, he was posted to New York near the US-Canada border, where he served as a mechanic and team leader.

Ondieki says he was so determined to build his career in the army and was so passionate about his job until misfortune visited in 2017.

On that fateful night, the father of one had gone out to a party at a local club with friends oblivious of what was awaiting him. It is here where an armed gang attacked him leading to his hospitalization for several months. He says he was in a coma for two months.

Ondieki divulges that he fell victim to a ‘gang initiation attack’ whereby persons seeking to join a criminal group attack random people to prove they can be part of it.

“I happened to at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been anybody but I guess they chose me,” he said.

He says the gang would have killed him if his friends did not mobilize others to confront the criminals. Doctors were almost certain that he would not survive based on the injuries he suffered and the amount of blood he lost.

He was in a wheelchair for six months and had nursing assistants monitoring his recovery.

‘I think the doctors and nurses lied to me. They told me I would be normal and I tried to work hard because I wanted to get better and go back to the army,” he stated.

He was later admitted to the warrior transition unit, where injured military officers go to recuperate with the hope of rejoining the army. But he was retired on medical grounds after he began having uncontrollable tremors.

Apart from losing his job, Ondieki says most of his friends abandoned him after the attack. Despite the terrible experience, he says his child is what keeps him going.