A family of a Kenya Certificate Secondary Education (KCSE) student in Shinyalu, Kakamega County, is mourning the sudden death of their son who died at home after the family lacked medical cover for his hospitalisation.
The student, Eugene Makale, reportedly succumbed to what started as a sore throat before his condition deteriorated.
''When evening reached, I saw he was taken ill and was complaining of throat pains even just having a meal pass through his throat was a problem,’’ the deceased's father told the media.
According to the family, the government’s decision to scrap the EduAfya medical scheme for students across the country impacted the chances of granting their son another attempt at life.
The family reported that they did not have money to enable them to treat their son, forcing them to use over-the-counter drugs bought from a nearby facility.
The family further added that their attempts to attend to ease young Makale's pain did not pay off.
''His fever worsened. We tried treating him with over-the-counter drugs that we had bought him. Upon reaching the hospital, he died,’’ the father added.
Teachers at St Joseph Mukulusu, where Makale was sitting the exams, reported that the scraping of the EduAfya Insurance has affected learners, especially those from poor backgrounds.
The teachers revealed further that the student had been complaining about his condition during the examination period. They thought that he would get better but his condition took another shocking turn.
''On Monday, he complained of sore throat and the body was very weak until his demise,’’ a teacher at the school told the media.
According to his colleagues, Makale had been weak through the first week of the examination and experienced eating problems because of his condition.
''He was not eating as he complained of sore throat and we trying by convincing him to at least eat so that he could sustain himself,’’ a colleague student at his school revealed.
The students also complained that their local health facility was faced with a persistent shortage of drugs, making it hard for the family of Makale to get better medical services that would have saved their colleague.
''Our local hospital around here, Shamakhubu, is our first resort as the residents of this place, and that is where we go if we have a medical emergency. The problem is the place has no drugs,’’ another student added.
Makale's death is the third case of a student succumbing during this year's KCSE examination in a week, after a 19-year-old student identified as Calistus Wamboye collapsed and died while inside the examination room awaiting to sit his mathematics paper that was to start at 8:00 am on Tuesday, November 5.
