A city family is in agony after the Nairobi Hospital declined to release the body of their son over a Sh9.4 million bill.
University student Isaac Odhiambo, 23, died on March 26 from what doctors attributed to reduced levels of blood.
His father Frankline Ochieng said they had hoped to pay part of the bill and strike a deal with the hospital to clear the arrears after Odhiambo is buried.
“We thought that when we pay part of it, the hospital would give us the body for burial so somebody gave us a soft loan of Sh3 million and we have managed to raise another Sh1 million from public donations via M-Pesa. We paid the Sh4 million but they (hospital) refused and demanded that we look for the remaining balance,” Ochieng said.
Now the family does not know where to start. The coronavirus pandemic has waded into the mix and complicated plans.
They thought they would be able to organise fundraising but health directives on social distancing there cannot be any gatherings.
“Coronavirus has been our greatest undoing. So coming together for a harambee is impossible. The hospital wants us to have sureties and a payment plan in three months. But how do you pay such a figure in three months?” Ochieng said.
The man traced his family’s problems to December when his son started experiencing feelings of tiredness.
Odhiambo, the last born in a family of five, started complaining of tiredness but there were no signs of pain.
He was a final year Bachelor of Commerce student at the Dedan Kimathi University in Nyeri. So he would occasionally get painkillers while in college or from the Metropolitan Hospital in Buruburu. The family lives in Utawala.
“It went on like that and you know he was a footballer so when he would felt, tired he would go out and play football,” Ochieng told the Star during an interview on Monday.
In January, Odhiambo’s situation worsened. He could not eat. He preferred to spend most of his time sleeping.
On January 11, he was taken to Metropolitan hospital where he was admitted after doctors found he was short on blood platelets. He was discharged after four days.
“He was actually okay and went back to school. As a finalist, he was going to defend his project. He was in school for about 10 days before we received a call from his roommate that he was not doing well,” Ochieng said.
Isaac Odhiambo whose body is detained at the Nairobi Hospital
Image: COURTESY
The family went to Nyeri and picked their son and returned to the Metropolitan Hospital where he was again admitted for six days.
But by the time he was getting discharged, doctors had noticed there was something wrong with the blood. They consulted a haematologist from the Aga Khan University Hospital to assess Odhiambo’s illness.
At home, Odhiambo’s situation quickly deteriorated. There was a loss of appetite and he started feeling too cold.
He was rushed back to Metropolitan hospital after 10 days but were referred to the Kenyatta National Hospital.
“At that time they could not tell where the problem was. They were just seeing reduced levels of blood and fluids in the body,” Ochieng said.
That was February 10. The family proceeded to KNH.
“We were told there was no free bed. We were shown a list of 40 people waiting for a bed yet our patient was in critical condition. They told us to try elsewhere or wait for another three to four days.”
Given the condition of his son, Ochieng said they decided to go to the nearby Coptic Hospital. It was 8pm when the got to the facility along Ngong Road.
After looking at tests from the Metropolitan Hospital, medics at Coptic said they did not have the machinery and suggested that the patient be taken to either Aga Khan University Hospital or The Nairobi Hospital.
“We went to Nairobi Hospital because it is nearer to Coptic. Doctors assessed him and said his platelets were low and decided to put him in isolation because, with low platelets, the immunity also goes down so he could easily contract opportunist diseases,” Ochieng said.
The next day, he found his son had been transferred to the ICU, where he was until March 26 when he passed on.
Almost a month later, the body remains detained at Nairobi Hospital over uncleared Sh9.6 million bill.
Ochieng said another Sh300,000 bill was accrued at the Metropolitan Hospital but it was cleared by a medical insurer.
He said they have since written to Nairobi Hospital authorities twice with no response. The hospital wants the bill cleared or sureties given on how the arrears will be paid in three months.
Contacted, the hospital declined to comment on the matter, saying they don’t discuss matters related to patients.
Ochieng, however, says he is baffled because doctors did not tell exactly what was ailing his son.
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