The Ghanaian seeking to break the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon, Chef Failatu Abdul Razak has opened up about an ordeal she went through the night before she began the attempt.
According to her narration, she fell sick seriously when she got to the Modern City Hotel to prepare for the much-anticipated attempt.
She noted that she was unable to talk, walk, move her body on the bed, or even open her eyes which got her frustrated and traumatized because she would be starting her cook-a-thon journey the following day.
Speaking to the media after she had brought the cook-a-thon attempt to a close, Chef Faila recounted how she battled with a serious ailment the night before her attempt, stressing that it took the intervention of God for her to be healed before the following day.
“The very night I came here to embark on this project, it was terrible. I laid on my bed in one of the rooms in this very hotel [Modern City] and it took grace to wake me up because I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t lift my hand, I couldn’t lift my leg,” she noted.
“I wasn’t sick before getting into this premises. But it happened out of the blue moon. It was tough, they got confused. What are we telling the public? What are we telling the media? What are we even telling the government who is interested in this?” she revealed.
Faila explained how she cried and appreciated the support given to her by her management.
“It took the grace of God and the medical team going up and down to wake me up with their profession and whatever. And when I woke up, I still couldn’t walk. I looked at my team and my management. I looked into the faces of everyone in that room and I cried. I cried because I didn’t owe anyone as much as I owed them for all their efforts and support,” she recounted at a press conference after ending her attempt.
Chef Faila completed her cook-a-thon attempt on January 10, 2023, after clocking 227 hours, approximately nine days and 11 hours.
She is yet to submit evidence of her attempt to the Guinness World Records for scrutiny to determine whether she was able to break the record currently held by Alan Fisher of Ireland who clocked 119 hours and 57 minutes.
Drawing Inspiration From Dr Nkrumah
Drawing inspiration from Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s famous “At long last the battle has ended” speech, the Ghanaian heroine took to social media to thank God and Ghanaians for their support.
She cooked 156 different meals; and served 2864 plates of food, with approximately 450 plates dedicated to orphanages and street children.
“Allow me to borrow a part of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s words: ‘At long last, the battle has ended.’ I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with excitement and joy. You’ve been by my side on this journey from the very first minute to 227 hours. Now, it’s time for us to rejoice and jubilate. This victory is dedicated to God and Ghana!… Thank you all, m’pagya!” she wrote on X after her feat.
Addressing the media after officially ending her attempt, Chef Faila emphasized that when the Ghanaian is given the needed support and space, they will excel.
“The support was so overwhelming I wish I could go on for months [instead of the five days I was expected to cook for] to put Ghana in the limelight. I wish I could do more even if it meant dying, looking at how happy everyone was with what was going on…,” She said.
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