A family in Nyandarua was left reeling in agony as their eldest son, only identified as Francis, who is 18 years old, attempted to take his own life moments after finding his father dead while hanging from a tree at their homestead.
Francis narrated his gripping story of how he came back from an errand only to find the lifeless body of his father to BBC correspondent Peter Murimi.
"I went to fetch firewood, then I found him hanging himself and my mind just went blank," Francis revealed.
His family was still coming to grips with the loss of their breadwinner as they sat in mourning when the depressed Francis went into their main house and wrote his short suicide note.
"It is better to die than to suffer," the sombre note stated.
He then got a hold of rat poison, ready to follow his father into the abyss only for the police to swoop in before he could harm himself following a tip-off from a relative who noticed his lifeless gazes following his father's death.
Francis went on to reveal that his father's depression leading up to his regrettable suicide started off once his previously booming business took a nose-dive.
"His depression started due to his business failure, the picture is still in my mind every time I try to sleep," Francis disclosed.
The young man affirmed that he had come to terms with the tragedy of his father's demise, adding that he had since realized that by committing suicide, he would only be committing his family to more pain and agony.
"When I was writing my suicide note, I was serious, but since I never did that, I have no plans to do it again because now I can feel the pain of being left and wouldn't want anyone else to suffer the same," a remorseful Francis revealed.
The chilling investigative piece by Mr Murimi went on to reveal that there had been 70 suicides within Nyandarua county in 2018 alone, with men taking up the majority of the victims.
Here is a short video of Francis' story:
