Family in agony after failing to raise Sh13m for late son’s bill

The portrait of Brian Kimani Njoroge, 13, was placed strategically on a table between two candles, behind a bunch of flowers, at St Stephen’s ACK Church in Gatuikira in Kiambu County on Wednesday.

Just a few metres away, Mr Stephen Njoroge sat pensively as the memorial service for his son, who succumbed to cancer last month, went on. Brian died on February 29 while undergoing treatment for leukaemia at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Nairobi.

But as the service went on, Brian’s body was not at the church as expected. It lay some 25km away, at the hospital morgue in Muthaiga. Reason? The body had been detained over an unpaid Sh13 million medical bill.

Unable to raise the hefty fee, the family decided to abandon the body and proceed with what they termed a “virtual burial”.

The family later said it was awaiting the hospital board’s decision before it decides on a burial date.

“You see. When you try your best and give your best like any parent would do for his child and it reaches a point where there is nothing you can do, you live it to God. Today, as my son lies at the hospital’s morgue, I find solace linking him to God through this service. I hope I will one day give him a decent burial,” Mr Njoroge told the Nation.

“I had hoped that his burial would happen today after we deposited a total of Sh3 million as part payment for the amount owed. The last payment we made to Gertrude’s was Sh1.7 million on Monday, which had been raised on Sunday in a funds drive,” Mr Njoroge added.

In a statement Wednesday, the hospital denied claims it had detained the child’s body.

Dr Thomas Ngwiri, the head of clinical services, said they had invited Brian’s family for a meeting today to agree on a payment plan.

“The family informed the hospital on March 10, 2020, that burial had been planned for Friday, March 13, 2020, and that they would be in touch on Thursday, March 12, 2020, with a payment plan and to collect the body for burial.

“It is, therefore, surprising that anybody would claim that the hospital has refused to release the body for a funeral service or burial,” Dr Ngwiri said.

Brian’s two-year struggle with cancer ended at 2pm on February 29.

He was a student at Jabali Preparatory School and was to sit his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations this year. But due to frequent illness, he missed school often.

Disturbed by the turn of events, his family sought treatment at Kijabe Mission Hospital, where, unfortunately, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer that attacks blood cells.

He stayed at the facility for two weeks before being referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for specialised treatment.

Brian was at KNH for two and a half months but his condition worsened, his father said.

Doctors then recommended that he be flown to India. A fundraiser was quickly organised, with the family, relatives and friends raising Sh6.6 million to cater for the cost of travel and treatment. In India, the family was told Brian would require a bone-marrow transplant.

“We took him to Atemis Hospital in India for a bone-marrow transplant. I donated my own to save his life, but, unfortunately, it didn’t help much in the first instance. Doctors performed two operations. The first one was unsuccessful but the second went well. In both, I was the donor,” the boy’s father said.

But after the first operation failed, the bill shot up, meaning the family would again conduct another fundraiser to cater for the new unplanned bill.

“The medical bill became unbearable. The hospital took our passports as collateral. It took the intervention of Kenya’s ambassador to India, Mr Willy Bett, to convince the hospital to grant me my passport to enable me to travel back home and fundraise,” he said.

The family managed to raise Sh7 million from the fund drive. The child, he added, was treated and recovered, at least for some months.

“That was in May last year. Brian was discharged and they returned home happy. We even conducted a thanksgiving ceremony that month,” added Mr Patrick Mbugua, the fundraising committee chairman.

But in an unfortunate turn of events, about four months after he was discharged, the condition recurred, sadly never to heal.

He was taken to Gertrude’s Hospital for about five and a half months, mostly in the Intensive Care Unit and the High Dependency Unit, until his demise on February 29.

Mr Mbugua said the original bill at the time of the boy’s death stood at Sh17.9 million.

Another fundraiser was held after the boy’s death and Sh1.7 million was collected. His family and friends raised about Sh470,000, NHIF catered for about Sh650,000 while Gertrude’s waived 10 per cent of the bill, leaving a balance of about Sh13 million.

Mr Mbugua said the family had hoped that with the deposit of about Sh1.7 million, they would get the body for burial.

The family said the hospital asked for collateral for the unpaid bill before releasing the body, but they did not have anything to offer.

The family said that when they met the hospital’s management last Friday, they were told the matter had been escalated to the board.

The board reportedly meet on Thursday to decide on the matter.