By CYRUS OMBATI

When he flew to Kenya for the wedding of his long-time friend Captain Andrew Little in Naivasha on November 11, last year, Shane West did not know his life was about to change forever.

As he admired the scenery below, there was no inkling that he would never fly again and enjoy a career he had nurtured for 27 years piloting different types of planes on almost all continents.

Captain Shane West was shot at his friend’s wedding last November and is now is confined to a wheelchair. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/Standard]

All that West thought of was the glittering wedding he was going to attend, followed by an elaborate evening party before he could fly to Sudan where he had secured a contract and later visit his family in December.

Everything was going as planned. Then, at the evening party, something unexpected happened. As West, 47, and other guests were enjoying the music during the evening party for his newly-wed friend and his bride Maureen Wanjiku at the Sopa Lodge in Naivasha, he suddenly felt a slight pain on his left side of the lung.

"I thought I had been electrocuted but I could see surprise on the faces of some of those in attendance because they had realised there was a gunshot. It wasn’t until one of the DJs came to me saying you have blood and you need first aid that I realised things were thick," the Australian who lives in Kenya told The Standard in an interview this week.

Apparently, West had been shot once in the chest and the bullet had lodged on the right side of his hand after rupturing the spine and lung.

West is now confined to a wheelchair in his house in Nairobi nursing a gunshot wound that shattered part of his left lung and spine, leaving him paralysed.

Painful experience

"It is a painful experience given I am confined to this wheelchair and have to be attended to by two nurses day and night," he says in a deep voice, the familiar voice of a pilot welcoming passengers to the plane and assuring them of a safe flight.

The man who shot him is a well-known businessman (name withheld) who is licensed to have a gun and is also the newly-wed couple’s friend as he was invited to the wedding.

Some witnesses claim he had drawn his gun to clear a bullet from the chamber when it went off accidentally and hit West. But those in attendance including Little add that it was an act of recklessness and misuse of the weapon. "It was reckless for him to come with the weapon to the party and remove it in front of guests who included children. Someone must be held responsible," says Little.

Mr Little says the gunman, whom he had met just eight months before his wedding at a bar in Lavington area, has reneged on his promise to cater for all hospital bills and compensate West.

Little, a Canadian and also a pilot met West in Dafur nearly ten years ago.

Both pilots were on duty and they have been close friends since then.

After being shot, things didn’t work out as swiftly as expected. He was immediately rushed to Naivasha District Hospital where first aid was administered and then he was evacuated by ambulance to Aga Khan University Hospital where he was booked in the intensive care unit (ICU) for four days.

By then, police had arrived at the scene and arrested the gunman whom they later booked at the station.

At the ICU, he underwent two surgeries, one to stabilise him and the other to remove the bullet, which was still lodged in him. During this time, the gunman, a rich Kenyan who owns industries, and his family showed up at the hospital to check on West whose initial prognosis by the neurosurgeon showed he had a six per cent recovery chance on his spine which was damaged when he was shot.

Little says the family promised to spare no expense in having West treated and also promised to cover all medical expenses.

"To necessitate this, through their lawyers they drew up an affidavit and a settlement agreement to cover for loss of income and future medical expenses should West never recover the full use of his limbs again. But the papers were not signed by his lawyers or himself."

Little said all they want is justice and the man involved in the shooting to face the law. He said efforts to get assistance from Naivasha police have been futile.

Last Wednesday, officers handling the matter told The Standard they are yet to charge the accused man because investigations are still ongoing.

Rift Valley PPO Francis Munyambu said they have opened an inquest file on the shooting as part of the investigation.