Pain and grief over medics' strike

The photo of Riziki Joha who died due to ecoptic pregnancy.PHOTO BY KIPSANG JOSEPH

Juma Amon, 30, is a widower after only five years of marriage. He blames the doctors' strike for the loss of his wife, Riziki Joha, 28.

Joha had an ectopic pregnancy – a complicated condition that required an emergency operation. Help came too late and Amon lost the love of his life and a baby he was looking forward to.

Beatrice Kwamboka, too, is mourning her husband, Robert Matunda, 55, who died of kidney failure. She couldn't find help in any public hospital.

These cases highlight the despair and anguish sweeping across the county as many more families are grieving as the Government and doctors stick to their hard-line positions.

The doctors' strike has entered the second month as Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) vows to continue with the strike until the Government implements the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Amon, a victim of the strike from London estate in Nakuru town, recalls the evening when he saw his wife struggled for life but unfortunately succumbed after she failed to receive quick attention from a doctor because of the strike.

"I have no hope in life. The medics' strike has left me a lonely man. How would my wife die in such a short span after falling sick?" posed Amon, who could not hold back tears.

Narrating his ordeal, Amon said he left home for work on January 3, leaving his wife prepare cakes that she used to supply in Nakuru for a living.

He said at around 1pm, he received a phone call from Joha informing him that she was feeling unwell. He advised her to visit a private hospital for checkup.

Joha, he explained, complained of sharp abdominal pain, dizziness, nausea and general body weakness.

She rushed to Nakuru Maternity Nursing Home approximately five kilometres from his home but there was a long queue of patients.

Doctors at the facility referred her to St Mary's Mission Hospital in Gilgil located along Nakuru Nairobi highway.

A doctor who received her at the hospital conducted a scan and ruled said she had ectopic pregnancy.

Amon said he gave an okay for the procedure to be conducted as he waited with hope to see his wife undergo a successful operation. She was taken to operation room but before the procedure, she succumbed. Joha was two months pregnant.

"I have not only lost my wife to death but God's gift for our marriage – a baby. When my wife broke news of having conceived, I was so excited. We had been longing for a baby only to lose my wife and the baby," regretted Amon.

Plans are under way to transport the body lying at St Mary's Mission Hospital for burial in Uriaa village, Kendu Bay Sub-County in Homa Bay County.

According to him, the wife could not have passed on had she received quick medical attention from medics.

He has asked the government and doctors to find a solution to the strike because it is causing deaths of many innocent Kenyans.

In the second case, Kwamboka who resides at Kaptembwo estate in Nakuru says Matunda kidney condition worsened and required attention from nephrologist.

The father of four had swollen legs and complained about acute abdominal pain and was having general body weakness.

Kwamboka said she rushed him at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital on January 1 but was not admitted.

She took him to various clinics within Nakuru town but the condition did not improve. He was forced to travel to Nairobi and took him to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

However, at the national referral hospital, he was turned away by guards' because nurses and doctors were on strike.

They travelled back to Nakuru and took him to  St Mary's Mission Hospital in Nakuru on January 3.

She said a doctor who received her said the hospital did not have a nephrologist and dialysis machine. He was referred to Mediheal Hospital. He died on arrival at the hospital.

She said a specialist who received him at the hospital said his condition was acute and required immediate attention.

The family is now depending on well-wishers to help in transporting the body for burial in Migori.