The Senate has opened an investigation into the death of Travis Maina who died at the Kenyatta National Hospital during surgery to remove a fork jembe lodged in his head.
Travis' photos went viral for having a fork jembe (digging hoe) lodged in his head died on the evening of October 11, 2022, after allegedly having to wait for too long before receiving emergency treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
According to the two-year-old boy’s mother, the toddler died on the surgeon’s table.
He had been rushed to KNH, the biggest referral hospital in East and Central Africa, after initially being rushed to Thika Level V Hospital.
She had decried delays from KNH staff at the Casualty Wing, saying they were told the medics were attending to a different emergency.
Judy Muthoni, 29, captured in this file photo with her son Travis Maina (left) who died at the Kenyatta National Hospital on October 11, 2022. One of her sons hit Travis with a fork jembe in Ndula village, Thika East Kiambu.
Photo credit: Family Album
As Kenyans went into uproar into how the hospital could allegedly keep the baby waiting long in the emergency wing, the hospital was forced to issue a statement to explain why they delayed taking the baby to Theatre immediately.
“The patient had lost a lot of blood and as a result, the clotting process was not occurring as expected, thereby, delaying the surgical procedure as this would have been dangerous to the patient.
The patient has since been stabilized and is currently undergoing a delicate operation at the KNH,” read the statement issued on October 11, 2022.
The child was injured while playing with his siblings and friends near his home. One of the children found the fork jembe and began running after the other children with it before he allegedly hit the two-year-old with it.
The news of the baby’s death was met with uproar from Kenyans who accused the hospital of negligence while others tried defending the doctors who had to wait for the baby to stabilize first.
