Kenyan actress Jackie Matubia revealed that her hit series ‘Toxic’ was almost a lost cause after she was forced to direct funds saved for the show’s launch were redirected to her father’s medical bills.
The internet personality publicly shared about her stepfather David Mwangi Macharia’s diagnosis of Stage 4 Cancer, revealing that the news dealt a big blow to her family, catching them off-guard following their financial magnitude of treatment.
“It was a shock for everyone. Immediately, my mum also got sick because of high blood pressure. It was panic mode for everyone. I was told he had to start his chemo immediately. And I was like, God, I don’t have money. I had used all my money in the new production,” Jackie revealed on her YouTube channel.
Mr Macharia needed urgent chemotherapy to address his condition, and Jackie had to make tough decisions regarding her career and family responsibilities, all while she was preparing for the launch of her new production, ‘Toxic’.
“So I told my mum I had the money for the launch and we could use it for the chemo, and I’ll figure out where the money for the launch will come from. I was like, should I cancel the launch, should I continue? But having friends who stand by you is nice. You guys see us smiling but you don’t know the battles that we go through behind the scenes,” Jackie stated.
Jackie has publicly shared that she was blessed with two fathers, with her biological father Fredrick Chege Matubia in the UK and Mr Macharia, who stepped up as her additional father figure and is also grandfather to her two daughters.
“God gave me my biological father Fredrick Chege Matubia, who lives in the UK and he visits once in a while. But God also gave me an additional father David Mwangi Macharia, who loves me, takes care of me, and prays for me,” Jackie shared.
Jackie’s father’s health had not been great for a while, and leading up to his diagnosis, medications had ceased becoming effective. This prompted a series of tests to ascertain the root of his ailment, which was then discovered to be a progressed variation of cancer. The news devastated the family.
“I remember when I was just about to do the ‘Toxic’ launch, my younger brother called and told me dad was not feeling well. I got the devastating call that my dad had stage four cancer. At that particular point, I was just asking God why. The man who has stood in the gap of being my father and my kids’ grandfather. I broke down and cried,” Jackie said.
She has since shared that he was responding well to treatment having gone for three chemotherapy sessions since his diagnosis.
