"My son was talking all through,” a grieving Judy Muthoni, the 29-year-old mother of the baby who died after surgery at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) says.
"He last requested water," Muthoni adds while recalling the last moments of her son, who underwent an operation to remove a fork jembe lodged in his head.
The boy passed away on Tuesday night, October 11, nearly 24 hours after he was hit with the fork jembe.
While struggling to come to terms with the events that occurred in the past week, she wondered how a playful moment among her three children led to the untimely demise of her baby.
"We arrived at Kenyatta at 6.35 pm and were asked to pay Ksh1,260, which my sister Lucy Wambui paid, "Muthoni added as she faulted KNH for shifting their focus toward the monetary expenses instead of attending to her son.
The grieving mother further claimed that the management asked them to add Ksh20,500, which they could not raise.
"After we failed to raise the amount, we spent Monday night and part of Tuesday morning at the casualty, where my son died while waiting to be admitted and taken to the theatre in the afternoon,” she alleged.
"I blame them for the death of my son. They were more concerned about me raising Ksh20,500 to secure a bed than saving my son. I paid the price for being poor," the mother lamented.
KNH, however, released a statement indicating that prior analysis of the baby revealed complications that hindered the surgery process.
According to the doctors, the jembe had penetrated the brain and subsequently led to swelling due to internal bleeding. Medics also resorted to stopping the bleeding before operating on the minor.
“A process of correcting the detected anomalies by giving blood products and medication while monitoring the patient's response was immediately commenced,” George Ooko, Chair, KNH Board Management, explained.
Reports alleged that the two-year-old minor was playing with her brothers, aged six and eight, under a mango tree within their compound before the incident occurred.
The deceased's uncle, Hassan Njau, rushed to the kin's aid when he heard loud screams from the compound.
"I jumped on a motorbike and rushed him to Ndula Dispensary, but unfortunately, the services were quite slow since Monday was a public holiday.
"So we sought help from a local doctor who owns a pharmacy in the area. He detached the long wooden handle from the fork jembe so that we could fit in his small car, and he then rushed us to Thika Level 5 Hospital,” Njau told Nation.
Muthoni, who was not at home at the time of the incident, joined Njau at the hospital before they were referred to KNH for further analysis.
''Thika Level 5 Hospital administered first aid to my son and later called an ambulance that took us to Kenyatta National Hospital," the mother recalled.
A section of Kenyans reached out to the family to assist in clearing bills and arranging a befitting send-off for the minor.
