Family’s two-year battle to save son ends with Sh12m bill burden

The body of Brian Kimani is brought in for burial. His body was released by Gertrudes hospital after five months in a standoff over a Sh12 million bill.[George Njunge, Standard]

A family in Kiambu finally buried their son after a hospital released the body.

Brian Kimani’s family had conducted a funeral service without his body four months ago.

The 14-year-old was laid to rest on Monday at the family home in Gatuikira village after a two-year battle with cancer that drained his family emotionally and financially.

The hearse carrying Brian’s body drove into the village in a modest motorcade to a sad reception by a handful of mourners whose numbers were limited by Covid-19 restrictions. 

On March 12, mourners gathered at the local St Stephen’s Church for a funeral service for Brian without his body, as the standoff between his family and Gertrude’s Children Hospital raged.

By then Covid-19 had not struck in the country. During his burial on Monday, Brian’s classmates at Jabali Preparatory School were unable to attend because of the rules imposed to curb the spread of the disease.

However, they were represented by a Sunday school pupil who gave an emotional tribute to Brian, who was in Class Seven when he died.

The burial ground was well marked with white chalk to help those in attendance maintain social distance.

Brian’s father, Stephen Njoroge, thanked Gertrude’s for releasing his son’s body, but appealed to the hospital’s management to waive the Sh12 million bill.

Njoroge said the family had exhausted all resources to pay for Brian’s unsuccessful treatment.

”I am completely broke and my heart is broken. It’s been two years of anguish, misery and suffering for me and my family. I have nothing more left as all my savings have been drained by my son,” he said.

The family only managed to raise Sh2 million after spirited online fundraising campaigns by friends.

“We had given up on burying Brian until we received a call from Gertrude’s telling us to collect his body. It warmed our hearts,” said Njoroge.

Brian’s body had been lying in the morgue for five months after his family failed to clear the hospital bill.

Diagnosed with Leukemia

Brian was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 at Kijabe Hospital and transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital where he was treated for two and a half months.

He was then transferred to Gertrude’s in July 2018 where he was admitted for nine months.

Thereafter, the boy was airlifted to India where the first bone marrow transplant failed. A second transplant temporarily saved Brian’s life, but at a huge cost. He was on treatment in India for nine months until May 5, 2019.

By then, some Sh6.6 million that had been raised for his treatment was depleted. Unable to pay the additional Sh7 million that came with the second transplant, the Indian hospital took away the family’s passports, effectively stopping them from returning to Kenya.

It took the intervention of Kenya’s ambassador to India, Willy Bett, who the family met as he visited Kenyans in Indian hospitals, for the family to get back their passports and return home.

Back in Kenya, the family was able to raise the additional Sh7 million, which it sent to the hospital in India. 

Brian seemed to be on the road to recovery and after about four months even went back to school.

But the family’s relief was short-lived, as the boy developed complications and was taken to Gertrude’s where he was hospitalised for five and a half months.

He died on February 2.

Speaking during the burial, Bishop Charles Muturi of the Anglican church thanked Gertrude’s for releasing Brian’s body for burial. He called for an end to detaining bodies of persons whose families failed to clear hospital bills. 

Muturi said it was not profitable for Gertrude’s or any other hospital to detain bodies over unpaid medical bills.

”It does not add any value to keep bodies of people in mortuaries because of non payment,” said Bishop Muturi.

In circumstances where a hospital detains a body, the government should bail the family out because such Kenyans also pay taxes,” he said.

The bishop challenged the Health ministry to address the cancer crisis in Kenya in the same way it is dealing with Covid-19.

“We have other diseases that are draining the pockets and energies of Kenyans and I am calling upon the government to help alleviate their suffering,” he said.