A young mother from Turbo in Uasin Gishu County lost her life in a road crash on the night of October 20, Mashujaa Day, plunging her family and an entire community into grief.
Shamillah Chepleting Birir, fondly called Sham by those close to her, was from the Mibey family in Turbo.
She passed away along the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret highway near Flax, in an accident that stunned those who knew her.
Birir leaves behind a young child who had just graduated from PP2, a loss that has added a heavy layer of sorrow to an already heartbroken household.
Friends mourn Shamillah Chepleting Birir
Friends and family who took to social media to share news of her passing described her as warm, gentle and deeply loved.
One of her closest friends, Lancy Melly, shared a moment that has since moved many online, a final conversation between the two on the very morning of the accident.
“Yesterday at 11:56 a.m., you wished me a Happy Mashujaa Day, and today I’m struggling to accept that you’re gone. Life is so unpredictable. I never imagined that our last moments together would become memories I would forever hold close to my heart. From walking together to Kipkenyo for a graduation on Friday to all the beautiful moments we shared, I will cherish them forever,” Melly wrote.
The tributes kept coming as the news spread, each one painting the picture of a young woman whose absence has left a visible void.
Sammy Lagaty wrote:
“I never imagined that one day I would have to say goodbye to you like this. It hurts so much knowing that I will never see you again. My heart is broken, and the words I want to say seem too small to express the pain I feel. Rest in peace.”
Evans Kiplagat added:
“This is so so hard to believe. You have left too young with so many Dreams and goals to achieve. Mutyo missing Kiptoo.”
Road crashes continue to claim lives on Kenyan highways, and for the Mibey family, the loss of Shamillah is a wound that words struggle to capture, a daughter gone, a mother taken, and a child left to grow up without her.
