Comedian and philanthropist Eric Omondi was moved to act after learning about Mercy Kanini, a young Kenyan mother whose extraordinary birth story quickly turned into heartbreak.
On September 13, Kanini, a 28-year-old from Juja in Kiambu County, made medical history at Thika Level Five Hospital by delivering quintuplets through natural birth an occurrence so rare that doctors themselves were stunned.
Routine antenatal scans had only picked up four babies, so the fifth newborn arrived as a complete surprise.
She delivered four girls and one boy, becoming only the second or third woman in Kenya’s recorded history to deliver quintuplets.
What happened to Mercy Kanini’s quintuplets?
The joy was short-lived. After the five babies were transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised care, four of them — all four girls — died. Only the boy survived.
According to what Kanini’s relative shared during the call with Omondi, the children arrived at the facility and were placed in incubators, but three of them passed away almost simultaneously.
The family reached the hospital at around 9 am only to be told by the baby’s father that one of the girls had already died.
Kanini herself was said to be in a fragile state, battling back pain and a swollen leg following the delivery, and had not yet been given proper access to the hospital by staff.
The comedian revealed that he also spoke to her. He said:
“I have just spoken to the mother of the five babies who lost 4 girls. Whoever is in charge at KNH, please help them. They are a bit stranded.”
Eric Omondi appeals to KNH staff
In a selfie-style video filmed from the driver’s seat of his car while en route to KNH, Omondi made an emotional and direct appeal to hospital management.
He reminded them that he had visited just two weeks prior while assisting a patient with endometriosis, and that staff had been welcoming and helpful on that occasion.
“Uyu mama amepoteza watoto wanne,” he said, urging staff not to wait for his arrival before stepping in to help.
He called on whoever was responsible at the hospital to assist the family with accessing the mother, as well as with preparations to have the babies’ bodies released from the morgue.
Omondi also appealed for the family to be exempted from hospital charges, given the magnitude of what they had already endured.
“You can imagine what that woman is going through. Having lost four kids. Four kids,” he said.
[Watch Eric Omondi’s emotional call with Mercy Kanini’s family]
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Omondi is widely known for his Sisi Kwa Sisi initiative, through which he has intervened in several humanitarian cases across Kenya, often using his platform to pressure institutions into responding faster than they otherwise would.
