‘When the attackers struck…’ Garrisa terror attack survivor talks

“The bones were entirely shattered and it was impossible to tell how many bullets hit her,” one of the doctors told a local daily. 

Today she is able to walk again, albeit with the aid of crutches.

Still traumatized and crippled – but feeling lucky to be alive – she spoke to BBC about her recovery.

“I’ve had 32 surgeries performed on me to be up on my feet. Most people don’t believe it but it’s the truth,” she says.

Mikwa is currently back in the university. The feelings Mikwa harboured following the al-Shabaab slaughter are slowly melting away and she can now afford a smile.

“I am not bitter anymore,” she said. “I hope nothing like that will ever happen again.”

‘Help me find my cousin!’ Papa Shirandula actress begs Kenyans

The third-year student wants to become a university lecturer.

“It has slowed down my university education but certainly it has not killed my dreams,” she said.

She is the last born in a large family – she has three brothers and three sisters.

Mikwa was admitted to the Garissa University College in September 2014 to pursue a Bachelors degree in education.

The attack happened as she was preparing to sit for her final second-semester examinations.

The attack claimed 147 lives and left several critically injured.

It was was the worst atrocity in the region since the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998, which killed 213 and injured thousands of others.

-BBC