Murang'a family begs state to bring home sick woman from Saudi

Lucy Wambui, 29, went to the foreign country six months ago before she fell ill and was admitted to hospital.

Sarah Njeri, a childhood friend, said Wambui's troubles started when she fell ill last month and was taken to a hospital where a CT scan was done and doctors said they could not find her illness.

Days after, she fell ill again and informed her employer who thought she was just being lazy and pretending.

“That is when she reached out to me and told me that she was seriously ill and that her bosses had refused to take her to a hospital. She was in so much pain she thought she would die,” Njeri said.

It was then that Wambui’s cousin contacted the Saudi Arabian embassy in Nairobi seeking help. Her employers were called and prompted to take her back to hospital where she was immediately admitted.

Wambui later reportedly slipped into a coma that lasted weeks and it was only on Wednesday that they were informed that she had regained consciousness and had been taken out of the ICU.

Since admission, Njeri said the employer who has been in contact with Wambui’s cousin has never informed the family of her diagnosis or which hospital she is in.

“They say she has issues with her digestive system and that her colon is inflamed but the last message we received from the employers is that she is having breathing issues now,” she said.

Njeri said Wambui has been of poor health since she went to Saudi Arabia and her family and friends are now pleading for help to have her repatriated so that they can care for her at home.

She said the employers have been demanding to be compensated the money they paid for her to allow her to leave.

They said they paid Sh660,000 to acquire her and that she owes them Sh450,000 after deductions of the five months she has worked for them.

“We are very concerned because if they are demanding for compensation, we don’t know if they will ask us to pay for the hospital bill too,” Njeri said.

She said that when Wambui was sent to Saudi Arabia by her agent, she was received at the airport by her employers who took her straight to their home.

Wambui’s mother Margaret Njoki, a single parent, said her daughter has undergone several operations since she was admitted in the foreign hospital.

Njoki, who does casual jobs to support her children, is at a loss for what to do to help her first born child.

“She’s been helping me support the family because I am a single parent. She is hard working and kind hearted,” Njoki said, crying out to the government to intervene.

Joyce Njeri, an aunt, said the family had been grief stricken with the news of her grave illness but was happy that she is improving.

Saudi Arabia is a far-off country, she said, and they have no ability to help her.

“We are sad to know that she is suffering there without any of her family members there with her. We know the government has done this before. Please help us,” she said.