When comradeship saves a life

The pressures of university life are pushing some students to breaking point — and it is often a fellow student, not an institution, who intervenes in time.

By Lewis Francis

It was a fellow student, not a counsellor or a lecturer, who stepped between Rose and a decision she could not undo.

The incident unfolded in the early morning hours at Emmaus hostel, Laikipia University. Fred, a student, had woken at 5:30 a.m. to check his class announcements and found instead a cascade of project deadlines and management notifications. Overwhelmed, he walked to the hostel washroom to clear his head. What he found there changed everything.

In a dark, silent cubicle, he discovered Rose, a fellow student studying computer science, sitting alone and crying. Beside her was a small container she was reluctant to surrender. Fred did not panic, lecture her or walk away. He sat down, stayed calm and asked her to talk. When she eventually placed the container on the floor, he moved it aside quietly and called for help — first the hostel management, then the university counsellor.

Rose had been carrying what many students carry silently: academic pressure, family expectations, financial strain and a profound sense of isolation. She had reached the point where she saw no way forward. Fred’s presence — unhurried, non-judgmental and human — gave her a reason to pause.

Universities invest in infrastructure, programmes and portals. What saved Rose that morning was none of those things. It was one student choosing to stay.

Mental health services on campus must be accessible, visible and free of stigma. But institutions should also recognise what this story makes plain: sometimes the most effective intervention is a peer who notices, stops and asks if you are okay.

Do not suffer in silence. And if you see someone struggling, do not walk past.

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