Started as headache: Widowed dad of 2 recalls wife's death during doctors strike
This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.
- A Nakuru father has described the rapid decline of his wife's health after she complained of a headache
- He rushed her to the hospital believing it was a simple case that would be treated
- Things took a drastic turn when it dawned on him that there was a doctors' strike, which shut facilities across the region for over a month
A school bus driver from Free Area, Nakuru, has described the slow and devastating loss of his wife to complications that began with a simple headache, worsened in hospital, and ended in her death during a doctors' strike that locked families out of healthcare for more than a month.
The father, who now raises two sons aged three and six on his own, said nothing in their life together suggested what was coming.
When a Headache Became Something Far Worse
His wife first complained of head pain and aching joints one ordinary morning. He bought painkillers from a nearby shop, hoping the discomfort would pass. When it did not ease overnight, he drove her to St Mary's Hospital in Gilgil, a journey made harder by her severe dizziness and pain. Tests the following day showed she was suffering from osteoporosis and anaemia, and she was admitted immediately.
He returned home that night to two young boys and an empty house, with the distance between Free Area and Gilgil adding to the weight of it all.
**Strike Cuts Off Care at the Worst Moment**
His wife's condition resisted treatment over the days that followed. Several blood transfusions were attempted, but her body reportedly reacted badly to each one. On the twelfth day, she developed meningitis while still admitted. The very next day, doctors at the facility went on strike. Patients were asked to settle their bills and find care elsewhere, but a strike that reportedly lasted over a month had spread to other hospitals in the region as well, closing off most alternatives.
By that point, she could no longer walk, feed herself, or use the washroom without help. A community nurse and caregiver stepped in to assist at home, and the father described their presence as the one thing that kept him from complete despair.
**A Community That Showed Up**
His employer at Lanet Lighthouse School granted him compassionate leave and continued paying him half his salary throughout his absence. He specifically acknowledged the school's director, Mr Ngotho, and the principal, Mrs Ngotho, for standing by him. His neighbours supplied food and daily essentials, while Bahati Church of God organised women from the congregation to help manage his household and offered consistent prayer support.
Even so, his wife's body kept failing. She lost her sight first, then her voice.
**The Morning Everything Ended**
One morning, as he prepared to get his sons ready for school, he went to change her catheter and diaper as part of his daily routine. She did not respond when he spoke to her. Her body was cold. His cries brought neighbours rushing in, and they confirmed she had passed away.
After the burial, he said, the people who had gathered around the family during the crisis gradually drifted away, leaving him and his two boys to start again with very little around them.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.