Family’s grief and Sh4 million hospital bill after son falls from 4-storied building

Felista Muthoka and her husband Adam Maleve display a portrait of their first born Samuel Mumo, 8, who died after falling from fourth floor of a residential flat in Kayole. They are appealing to well-wishers to help them offset the hospital bill of Sh4 million. [Photo: Jenipher Wachie/Standard)

Six weeks ago, 40-year-old Felista Muthoka was seated inside her grocery store in Kayole when a little boy came running frantically towards her.

"Follow me," he said breathlessly, "Your son Samuel has fallen from the house where we were playing."

Felista says she knew from the urgency of the boy's voice that it was serious. She abandoned her shop and rushed after the boy who led her towards a tall building a few metres away.

A large crowd had already formed at the entrance of the building when she arrived. However, she couldn't see her eight-year-old son Samuel Mumo. She was informed that a Good Samaritan had taken him to a nearby dispensary.

"I ran to Arrow Web Clinic and saw my child lying on a wooden table with traces of blood collecting at the corner of his mouth. He looked so fragile, and his eyes were swollen. I was shaking when I stretched my hands to hold him," says Felista.

Samuel, who was a Standard Three pupil, had fallen from the top floor of a four-storied house in Kayole, Nairobi, where they were playing. His friends say he slid from a hollow place in the building and landed head fast on the ground floor.

Medics at the dispensary advised Muthoka to seek help in a better-equipped hospital. Her husband Adam Maleve joined her and they boarded a taxi to Mama Lucy Hospital. She says although Samuel was not talking, he was aware of his surroundings.

However, by the time they got to Mama Lucy, Samuel had started slipping in and out of consciousness.

He was given emergency care and the doctors established that he was bleeding internally. They had to drain the blood until he was stable for further assessment. The whole process lasted three hours, with doctors working tirelessly to ensure his brain got sufficient oxygen.

It was around 6pm when the bleeding stopped, and his breathing stabilised. He was transferred to Mater Hospital where he was scheduled for a series of tests to identify the damage that the fall from fourth floor had done to his body.

"When the X-ray was done, the doctors told us that his brain had been severely damaged, and his legs were also broken," said his father Maleve.

That diagnosis, he says, changed everything for his young family. As Samuel was wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to await a series of brain surgeries, Maleve went back home to take care of his five-year-old twin sons, while his wife remained with Samuel.

A day that started with Samuel going out to play with his friends had now transformed into a family counting every second and hoping that their son would wake up from his hospital bed and become the jovial child they knew.

"He was wrapped in tubes. There was one in his mouth, another in his stomach, and then there was one helping him breath," said Felista.

After 32 days in the ICU, Samuel's condition improved and he was transferred to the general ward. The tubes were removed, because he could now breath on his own. He also started recognising sound and attempting to talk.

"I was talking to friends who had come to see him, and he turned his head towards us. He even made sounds and I knew that my son was going to heal," said Felista.

Two weeks later, as a nurse was feeding Samuel, he started convulsing. His mother who was holding him says his fever got high, and his nails momentarily became black.

"Everything was happening fast. I could feel his heart beating so hard against his chest. Doctors came and tried everything. Then his heart beat got weak, like a distant whisper. A few minutes later, Samuel left us...." she says.

Kayole residents blamed several contractors for not considering children's safety when designing houses. They claimed that most houses do not have grills that would shield children as they play.

Evelyne Obada, who was Samuel's teacher, described him as an intelligent boy who loved sharing. She points at an empty space on the classroom bench and says other pupils keep asking when Samuel will come back to school.

Samuel's family is now struggling to raise money to settle the Sh4 million hospital bill at Mater Hospital so that they can bury their son.

"We cannot raise the money. Our son lies in the mortuary, and we cannot bring him home and lay him to rest," says Felista.

Their Safaricom M-Pesa paybill number is 208705.