For Korir, successful surgery offered a second chance, both on the track and in the classroom.
As well as allowing her to run properly again, she continued her education through Gynocare’s Young Fistula Programme.
“I have a family in GynoCare, a fistula home,” she said.
“That is where I schooled after my surgery until I finished my secondary level.”
In 2019, Korir began competing professionally and two years later was part of the Kenyan duo which claimed a silver medal in the 2x2x400m mixed relay alongside her partner Ferguson Rotich at the World Relays in Poland.
A year later she went one better, bagging gold as part of Kenya’s 4x400m relay team at the African Championships in Mauritius.
The mile at this year’s Commonwealth Games was her first appearance in major global final.
“I’m giving hope to young women maybe who have lost hope,” she said of her achievements.
“They need to come back again in living and enjoying life.”
Mabeya says Korir’s transformation makes her a powerful example to the women currently receiving support at Gynocare.
“She makes them realise that you can actually pull yourself out of these struggles and still make it in life and succeed.
“Naomi actually is one of those patients that inspires us to continue working very hard, because we struggle with this condition and these women. The work is not easy.”
As a young girl, Korir sang in church and played the keyboard, convinced that music was a more likely career than athletics.
“But now I’m in different career and I’m so happy,” she beamed.
And with the World Championships in Beijing next year and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Korir believes there is another chapter to write.
“I know I’m a champion in life, because conquering fistula alone is being a champion.
“Now I’m looking forward to be a champion in sport.”
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