Lone survivor glad to be alive after accident

University students die in a road crash along the Kisii-Kilgoris highway

What you need to know:

  • Her mother, Grace Moraa, could not hide her joy that her daughter had survived the accident.

Twenty two-year-old Mercy Nyambeki lies in bed at the Kisii Level Five Hospital with her arm strapped up to an intravenous drip.

She looks weak. One side of her face has been heavily bandaged. She is clearly in pain. But despite all this, she is grateful to the Lord for sparing her life.

The Fourth Year Bachelor of Commerce student at Kenyatta University is the lone survivor of the grisly road accident at Etora area in Sameta, along the Kisii-Kilgoris highway, that claimed the lives of seven of her friends.

The accident occurred when their vehicle collided head-on with an oncoming saloon car.

Witnesses say the driver of the saloon car had attempted to overtake a lorry before the head-on collision.

In great pain, she told the Sunday Nation what happened. “I was on the back seat of the Toyota Noah that was ferrying my friends and I from Nairobi to an all-white party that was being held at Magena,” she says.

She says their journey to Kisii started on Friday morning shortly after 10am. “One of our friends advised us to use public means but we decided to contribute and hire the car because of the long distance from Kisii town to Magena,” she said.

She said as their vehicle cruised to Magena, she suddenly heard a loud bang and she lost consciousness.

“When I regained my senses, I tried to wake up one of my friends – Valarie. She did not respond…it then dawned on me that things were not well…I then blacked out,” she says.

“We took several photos on our way to Kisii. I did not imagine that this was going to happen,” she says.

Her mother, Grace Moraa, could not hide her joy that her daughter had survived the accident.