She aspired to be veterinary doctor to save her father's animals but died saving colleagues

15-year-old Fortune Amaya’s dream to become a veterinary doctor and eventually establish an agro-vet business was cut short in the wee hours of May 28, as she tried to save her fellow students in the Merlin Waithera dorm at Utumishi Girls Academy.

The Grade 10 student from Kakuma in Turkana County had held the dream since childhood, her mother, Pauline Losike, says, recalling how growing up around livestock inspired her interest in animal health.

Growing up in a family that kept livestock, Amaya often watched her father struggle to find veterinary services whenever his animals fell ill, an experience that inspired her desire to care for animals.

“She would often hear about her father's animals falling sick and would say, ‘When I grow up, I want to become a veterinarian, so my father won't have to worry about his livestock anymore. I want to help him take care of them,” Losike recalls.

Pursuing that dream eventually led her to Utumishi Girls Academy, a school she had personally selected when applying for secondary education.

“When I saw the list of schools she had chosen, Utumishi was among them. She really wanted to study there,” the mother of one says.

While at Utumishi, Amaya became a member of the school's Red Cross Club, a role that reflected the caring nature her family says had defined her since childhood.

Known among relatives and friends for her willingness to assist others, the Grade 10 student would later draw on those instincts during the dormitory fire.

It is those same instincts, according to accounts shared with the family by survivors, that emerged during the fire. In a narration filled with both pain and pride, Losike says fortune turned her attention to helping other students escape the burning dormitory before attempting to save herself.

Unfortunately, she became trapped and was among the 16 students who died in the blaze.