The family of Ruth Nangekhe, a 26-year-old woman from Umoja Village in Lugari Location, is demanding to know the cause of her death just after giving birth to a baby girl through caesarean section at the Lumakanda County Hospital.
The baby, a second-born of the fallen woman, survived and is in good condition, but questions still linger on how its mother died.
Nangekhe’s brother, Josiah Mukulo, said up to now the family has not been given any report on what led to his sister’s death on Friday evening, just a day after she had reported at the hospital while on labor.
Josiah said his mother, Salome Simiyu, received a call from the hospital on Friday evening, with the caller demanding that she quickly turns up at the hospital with other four people.
“We quickly called on my father, three church members and took motorbikes to the hospital. When we arrived, we were not received by any medical attendant but only the watchman who took us to where my sister’s body was lying. He also showed us the baby who was alive and under emergency care,” he said.
The hospital demanded that they offset the Sh5,000 bill incurred during Nangekhe’s stay there before they could carry her body to the mortuary. Their pleas to have the hospital forgive the debt because of the family’s dire situation fell on deaf ears. Fortunately, church members pooled together and cleared the bill.
“The neighbors back home sent us money to take the body to the mortuary. But before that, I really wanted to know what was the cause of her death. I know in such cases, the medic in charge makes a report, but when we tried to seek direction as to what was the cause of Nangekhe’s death, they were not ready to give the details,” Mr. Mukulo continued.
They were not handed the report on that specific night but were told to go back for it the next day (Saturday), of which they couldn’t for lack of fare, and the confusion caused by the death of their kin.
Attempts to reach out to the facility for an explanation failed after a medical attendant at the maternity wing told the Western Kenya Times that she would not comment on the matter until her seniors permitted it.
Josiah believes her sister passed on because of the negligence of the attendants at the hospital.
“My reasoning is that she was not taken serious because she didn’t have Linda Mama nor money to pay for the service, and the nurses may have thought that now that she’s from a humble background, she would not be able to pay the bill,” he said.
In 2017, Lumakanda County Hospital was on the spot after a woman died minutes after she delivered a child who was already dead, allegedly after the attendants denied her a lifesaving injection over Sh1000 only.
The family is calling upon well-wishers to help raise at least Sh20,000 needed for Nangekhe’s decent burial and anyone willing to help with the responsibility of taking care of the little angel she has left behind.
Fundraising for the burial will be on Wednesday and the body will be taken home from the mortuary on Thursday as the burial is scheduled on Friday.
- To assist the family, one can reach out to Nangekhe’s brother through phone number 0721976925 or the treasurer of the fundraising through 0113338215. May the soul of the departed rest in eternal peace.
Sam Oduor is the editor-in-chief at the Western Kenya Times who leverages the power of the Internet in telling stories that shape opinions.
