•The family had picked their daughter from school after receiving a call from her school that her condition needed medical attention
•Mama Lucy according to a document seen by the Star diagnosed the teenager with acute pyschosis
The 16-year-old girl who died at KNH a week ago following what the family termed as negligence by the hospital will be buried on Tuesday.
The father, Peter Kanyita, told the Star the body will leave KNH mortuary in the morning before being interred at their home in Mwingi.
An autopsy report showed Joyce Wayua died of severe acute respiratory illness.
The report by pathologist Edwin Walong seen by the Star also notes that Wayua had acute Hemorrhagic Gastritis.
The family had picked their daughter from school after receiving a call from her school that her condition needed medical attention.
According to the father, they rushed her to Mama Lucy Hospital where she had been receiving treatment previously before schools opened.
The family lives in Umoja estate.
Mama Lucy Hospital, according to a document seen by the Star, diagnosed the teenager with acute pyschosis, and referred the family to Mathare Mental Hospital.
Psychosis is characterised by an impaired relationship with reality. It's a symptom of serious mental disorders. People who are experiencing psychosis may have either hallucinations or delusions.
“They told us her condition has to do with adolescent growth and development, and even told us to find out if she has a boyfriend,” Kanyita said.
But on getting to Mathare, they were referred to KNH.
“The patient was sent for psychiatry review. Noted is difficulty in breathing, loss of voice, drooling and inflated enlarged tonsils. Plan: Urgent ENT review,” a report from the psychiatry resident at Mathare said.
The family maintains that failure by KNH to treat the case with the urgency it deserved cost the life of their daughter.
He said that despite arriving at KNH at 10.30pm, by 2.30am, Wayua had not yet been put on oxygen despite struggling to breathe.
He said instead of being put on oxygen, she was instead referred for VCT tests.
KNH has denied the claims that there was negligence on the part of the hospital.
“She was obedient, jovial, polite, flexible, humble and loved singing in church. She was also a good performer. Her dream was to become a doctor. When I asked her before leaving the house for school she assured me she will bring an A,” Kanyita said.
Wayua was a Form 3 student at Kamacharia High School in Murang’a.
“We will be picking the body and leaving tomorrow morning but I don’t see it as a body. She is still Joyce and will forever remain Joyce.”
The family has since launched a complaint with the Medical Council and deposited a copy of the autopsy results with the council officials in what they say is to await justice for the death of their daughter.