Kenyan Mother pleads for help as two sons' hospital bills hit Sh4.9m

Pauline Cheruyot (right) with her son Mosses Kiprop (left) and other family members looking at the photos of Denis Rerimoi at home in Kaptimbor ,Baringo county on June 5,2016. {PHOTO:KIPSANG JOSEPH

A 27-year-old man has been detained in an Indian hospital for three months over a Sh1.6 million bill.

Denis Rerimoi went to New Delhi for a kidney transplant on March 15 this year after his kidneys failed completely.

Pauline Cheruiyot, Mr Rerimoi’s mother, told The Standard that her son developed a kidney problem in 2004. Prior to this, he had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2000.

Rerimoi went to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital where he was advised to undergo dialysis twice a week. Each session cost Sh10, 000.

“Every week he would spend more than Sh20, 000 on treatment,” said his tearful mother.

On March 15, 2016, Rerimoi flew to India for the transplant. He was accompanied by his father Simon Cheruiyot and his elder brother, who offered to donate a kidney each.

The family, through the help of well-wishers including Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, raised Sh1.5 million for travel and the initial hospital bill.

Rerimoi underwent successful surgery but things took a turn for the worse when he developed complications.

“His father called to say our son had developed complications a few days before they were released and that he had to be put under intensive care,” said Mrs Cheruiyot at their Kabarnet home.

He was initially expected to be back in the country in late March. His condition did not improve as expected and Rerimoi’s stay in the intensive care unit was extended, inflating the bill further.

His father and brother cannot travel back home as well after their passports were confiscated by the hospital.

“It is like we are in prison. This part of the world is very hot. I plead with my countrymen and women to assist us to get out of here. As a family, we have sold all the properties we had,” said Mr Cheruiyot from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

Their visas will expire on June 8. As a result, they have requested the Foreign Affairs ministry to help sort out the visa issue.

Rerimoi has since recovered and is out of the ICU but the unsettled bill bars him from leaving the hospital.

Rerimoi, his father and brother are staying in the hospital’s hostels where they continue to be billed.

THINGS ARE TOUGH

Mrs Cheruiyot, a primary school teacher, was recently forced to sell the family’s only two cows and send the money to sustain them. “We have tried to raise the money through all channels but things are getting tougher by the day,” said the mother, desperation written on her face.

Sadly, Rerimoi’s younger brother was involved in a motorcycle accident along the Kabarnet-Iten road and suffered serious injuries.

Moses Kiprop was admitted to Reale Hospital in Eldoret for six months, amassing a medical bill of Sh3.3 million.

“At this point we had finished selling our properties and had been left with nothing. It was our grandmother who gave out her title deed to be deposited in hospital as surety for us to be allowed to leave the hospital,” she narrates.

The family is appealing to well-wishers to assist them to clear the hospital bills amounting to Sh4.9 million.

You can help via M-Pesa pay bill number 294813 and Equity Bank account number 1390163292635.