“What happened, Lord?” This is likely the question Benson Kinyanjui is asking his maker after the mysterious death of his wife, Elizabeth Wairimu, at Nakuru Level V Hospital on Friday.
Kinyanjui had taken his 26-year-old wife to the hospital to give birth to their baby boy—a day that began with joy and expectation for the young family.
Wairimu, who was 42 weeks pregnant, was admitted to the Margaret Kenyatta Mother and Baby Maternity Wing. According to her husband, she showed no signs of complications at the time.
“I brought my wife to the hospital on our motorcycle. She was full of energy and humour. We were joking—everything seemed fine,” Kinyanjui recounted.
The couple had visited the facility to understand why labour hadn’t started past her due date. After examination, doctors recommended a caesarean section. However, the procedure was postponed due to other emergencies at the facility.
Kinyanjui returned the next morning at 6am. He found Wairimu in good spirits. They spent time together until she was wheeled into theatre at around 8am.
“I received a call at around 1pm from a doctor asking where I was. When I arrived, he informed me that complications had arisen during the surgery, and they were forced to make a decision between saving the baby or the mother,” Kinyanjui said, visibly distraught.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr James Waweru later confirmed that Wairimu had been taken to theatre at 10am and had emerged by 11:30am. However, she developed breathing complications after being moved to recovery room. During surgery, she had received spinal anaesthesia.
“She was resuscitated and placed on a ventilator while awaiting an ICU bed. At the time, there was none available. One was only secured around 1pm after another patient was discharged,” said Dr Waweru.
He added that the cause of the breathing complications was still unknown and that a post-mortem had been recommended.
For Kinyanjui, the explanation is insufficient. “She was my pillar. What will I do without her? What happens to our newborn? My wife died due to the hospital’s neglect,” he lamented.
Wairimu’s mother, Susan Wanjiku, also shared her frustrations and grief. She had spoken with her daughter just before the surgery. Wairimu had informed her that many patients were booked at the time and that she had overheard medical staff complaining of fatigue.
“I had called her on Friday at around noon. She told me she was ready for surgery but there was a queue. I found her at 5pm full of life, dressed for theatre. She said the surgery had been pushed to Saturday morning,” Wanjiku recalled.
Wanjiku spoke to her daughter again at 7am on Saturday. Wairimu was upbeat and told her not to worry as her husband would keep his phone during the procedure.
“After waiting for hours with no word, I called my son-in-law. He said he hadn’t received any updates since 8am. I rushed to the hospital to find out what was going on,” she said.
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At the facility, Wanjiku was shocked to learn that her daughter had been placed in an ambulance, although she believed Wairimu had already died.
“I knew my daughter had passed away when I saw how they were rushing her to ICU,” she claimed.
She questioned the conflicting reports about the surgery’s timing and alleged delays.
“They said she went to surgery at 8am but only operated on her at 10am. What was happening during those two hours?”
Wanjiku says her daughter’s death should be a wake-up call to healthcare providers, vowing to pursue justice to ensure no other family suffers the same tragedy.
