• Wendy's body is scheduled to arrive Kenya any time this week for burial. The family is yet to set the date for burial.
• Her father Henry Nyabuto said he was contacted by Interior CS Fred Matiangi for help after the media highlighted their plight.
Image: HELLEN WENDY/FACEBOOK
Kenyans in Canada Sunday night relived memories of Hellen Wendy, the young nurse who drowned in a hotel swimming pool a fortnight ago.
The memorial service was held at the Toronto Swahili Seventh Day Adventist community church where hundreds turned up to bid farewell to the young soul.
Wendy's family in Kenya at Bomachoge Chache village in Kisii county followed the proceedings via a video link. Tears flowed freely as friends paid glowing tribute to their daughter.
Each of Wendy's friends described her as big-hearted with her boyfriend, Alfonse Magati, saying she died at a her family and country needed her the most.
"She was only 23 but had the personality of a 30 year old woman, always carrying herself with dignity and grace. She was a flower in our midst that death snuffed away," Alfonse said.
Wendy drowned on August 19, 2022 while live-streaming herself on Facebook while swimming after work.
She kept engaging with her friends on Facebook until after about tens minutes when she drifted a bit further into the swimming and drowned moments later.
Her body was discovered three hours later by two men who had come to the swimming pool.
Alfonse, also a Kenyan, said he was among Wendy's friends who were glued on the live-stream as the tragic incident unfolded that fateful afternoon.
They had been living together weeks before her death. Alfonse said they often drove to work together in a car they jointly bought.
"She was truly a human all of us could wish to be near to. She exuded optimism. Her death brought unending darkness which I cannot right away understand," he stated.
She goes leaving a memory too big to fade,"he added.
Other friends who also watched the chilling events that afternoon said they didn't believe Wendy had drowned until they got to the scene.
"She couldn't eat a meal without inviting us to her dining table, such was the person she was," a friend said.
Wendy moved to Canada five years ago on a Green Card and was yet to return home to see her parents before she passed on.
Cathy, a fellow nurse at the health facility where Wendy worked broke into tears when giving her tribute. She said she was Wendy's mentor and treated her as her daughter.
"Wendy was full of life, funny and an excellent co-worker who I took in as my daughter. I did not lose a fellow nurse but a friend and a daughter that the passage of time cannot erase," Cathy said.
Wendy's body is scheduled to arrive Kenya any time this week for burial
The family is yet to set the date for burial.
Her father Henry Nyabuto said he was contacted by Interior CS Fred Matiangi for help after the media highlighted their plight.
"We are appreciative for highlighting our desperation. You did a commendable work in telling our story," he said.