A family in Mathira constituency in Nyeri County is seeking answers regarding the unclear circumstances surrounding their teenage daughter’s death who died while she was at school.
According to the family of 13-year-old Joy Wanjiru, a Form One student at Tumutumu Girls High School in Nyeri County, their daughter was admitted on January 17 2024, and she did not have any history of medical issues.
Her grandmother, Ann Karungari, said that she received a phone call from the school on Monday morning, informing her that Wanjiru was unwell and had been rushed to the neighbouring Tumutumu Mission Hospital.
Karungari rushed to the hospital where she met Wanjiru’s teachers who had brought her there. They explained that Wanjiru had fallen ill in the morning and was rushed to the hospital.
“When I rushed to the hospital, the teachers who had taken Wanjiru there told me that she was responsive, but the hospital management told me that they received the girl when she was already dead,” the grandmother said.
The grandmother, who lived with the girl in Kaguthiru village in Mathira before she joined high school, stated that the girl had no known medical condition. Therefore, it is not clear what caused her sudden death.
“Wanjiru has been healthy all along, and she does not have any reported medical conditions. Therefore, we do not understand what happened, and we would like to know the truth,” she said.
Wanjiru’s mother, Charity Ngure, said that the school had called last week, informing them that she needed some money for personal use. She took the money to the school, but neither was she informed about her illness nor was she allowed to see her.
“I was at the school on Thursday to take the money for her personal use but I was not allowed to see her and I was not told whether she was unwell,” her mother said.
The family is demanding justice for their daughter, as they have not received any official communication from the school on what transpired.
They claim to have received contradicting information from both the hospital and the school regarding how their relative died.
“We are calling upon the government to help us unravel what caused our daughter’s death because the school says she died in the hospital where she was rushed while the hospital claims that she was already dead when they received her,” her mother said.
Central Region Director of Education, Sabina Aroni, stated that investigations have been launched to establish what transpired. However, attempts to reach the hospital’s management were futile as they were in a meeting.
