Barely a month after Joy Kahanya, secured a slot at Tumu Tumu Girls High School in Nyeri, her family is now engulfed with her mysterious death.
Joy, a 14, a Form One student, passed away on Monday morning after complaining of severe chest pains and a headache the previous night.
Her family is now questioning why they were never informed about their daughter’s illness leading to her death, and why the school administration overlooked her situation.
Speaking to the Nation, Mr John Kahanya said he was first informed about his daughter’s health on Monday morning at around 6.30 am.
This was despite the fact his daughter reportedly falling ill the previous day (Sunday) at around noon.
“She had reported to the clinical nurse who prescribed some medicine after she complained of a headache, chest pains and vomiting,” he said adding that the situation worsened over time.
A signage of Tumutumu Girls School in Nyeri County.
Photo credit: JOSEPH KANYI | NMG
At the time of retiring to bed after night preps, he says that his daughter was so weak that she even slept in her school uniform.
Mr Kahanya said he would later come to learn that his daughter had been complaining of the illness since Wednesday last week, but had not informed any of her teachers.
“She had only told her school guardian- a fellow student, who advised her to seek medical help from the school nurse. The friend, however, did not follow up to check whether Joy sought any medical attention until the situation worsened on Sunday,” he explained.
Before retiring to bed, Mr Kahanya said his daughter had requested one of her friends to wake her up the following morning at 4.30 am, for the morning preps.
But when she was woken up the next day, she did not respond. Her friend then prepared herself for the morning studies before later realising, an hour later that Joy was still lying in bed.
The student informed the school matron who together with the teacher on duty, notified the school authorities.
“It was at that time that I got an informal phone call from one of the teachers informing me that my daughter was unconscious and was set to be rushed to the PCEA Tumu Tumu Mission hospital which is just adjacent to the school,” he says.
At the hospital, Mr Kahanya said that he was told that his only daughter was rushed to the casualty ward, by a school vehicle, where she was pronounced dead.
Since he could not make it to the school on time, as he was away at work, he sent his wife and mother- who live just a few kilometres from the school.
Relatives who responded to the scene, say that they found their daughter dead. They are now questioning whether their kin died at the school or in hospital, citing a cover-up.
Mr Kahanya says that his daughter did not have a history of any illness when she reported to the school. She was set to go back home for mid-term on February 29.
According to Mathira West Sub-County Police Commander Pixley Musyoki, investigations are currently ongoing to establish the deceased’s time and cause of death.
“The investigations will also show what illness the school nurse treated her with and whether there was any misdiagnosis,” he says.
An Occurrence Book (OB) report at the Tumu Tumu Police Station, shows that the school administration reported the matter on Monday at 7.15 am.
