Omondi triumphs through tragedies

Coming back from two major surgeries, David Omondi understood the value of his health.  

Omondi, 23, senior of Kisumu, Kenya, was an active individual his entire life. He began playing soccer at age 5 and when his family moved to the United States, he began competing in track. Track is where Omondi found his natural talent in sprints. The 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and relays were the events Omondi participated in.  

By his freshmen year of high school, Omondi began playing football. According to Omondi, the sport required time to learn. By his senior year Omondi excelled at football and received many scholarships.  

But during Omondi’s senior year, his appendix bursted. It wasn’t until the next day Omondi realized he could no longer move.  

“The first procedure went well I thought at first,” Omondi said. 

Two weeks after the first procedure, a life-threatening infection occurred due to the process of not clearing the infectious bacteria according to Omondi.  

The second procedure was open instead of laparoscopic. Omondi spent two extra months in the hospital. During this time Omondi lost 60 pounds and had to learn to walk again. 

“The biggest worry was getting a chance to graduate high school,” Omondi said. 

He missed weeks of assignments and exams. However, Omondi maintained a 3.5 GPA throughout high school so the school allowed him to graduate without taking final exams, according to Omondi. 

Due to the injury Omondi lost his opportunity to play sports in college. This led to Omondi’s loss of interest in sports, he said. Although sports were no longer an interest, he decided to keep working out to maintain his body. Omondi said his greatest support system consisted of his relatives, teachers, coach and good friends to keep him going. 

In the gym, Omondi mostly weight trains. He then adds in a form of cardiovascular activity two-three times a week. Omondi follows a split called push-pull-legs and goes through the cycle twice a week. This split allows each body part to be trained on its own, according to Aston University. 

“My biggest accomplishment has been seeing progression in strength on my lifts such as benching 2.1 times my body weight and improvement of body composition overall,” Omondi said. 

Omondi’s training is fulfilling, he said he knows the work he has devoted is an investment for his future.  

The biggest challenge Omondi currently faces are the gyms shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other challenges he faces is his heavy involvement with classes along with maintaining four jobs.