• Noel Amudavi has been battling for her life at the Avenue Hospital after she was shot five times: three in the stomach, two in the shoulder
• She died on January 2, after her liver failed, nearly a year after the attack
Image: COURTESY
"My wife had asked me to prepare cassava for dinner that night. She loved them, especially when it is me who had prepared." These are the words of Bernard Kisanya, who last week lost his wife after she succumbed to gunshot injuries from the Dusit attack.
In an interview with the Star, Kisanya termed his late wife, Noel Amudavi, a strong woman and caring mother. He said all she wanted was to see her three boys finish school and become independent in their lives.
Noel was the only nurse stationed at the DusitD2 Hotel. During the attack, she was on duty at the facility.
When she heard an explosion, she did not know the complex was under attack. She ran from her room with intent to find out what was happening.
On her way out, she bumped into one of the attackers, who shot her twice in the shoulder.
She tried to make her way back to the hotel, but as she ran up the stairs, she found two the hotel staff who had been severely injured.
She couldn’t leave them behind, she wanted to help, so she tried to secure them.
Unfortunately, the attacker couldn’t let her. She was again shot three times in the stomach.
Noel fell unconscious but did not die. She was among the first victims to be rescued and admitted at the Avenue Hospital in Parklands.
“On normal days, she is the one who gets home before me, but on that day, I had no deliveries to make so I called her to let her know I was in the house,” Kisanya, who works for a delivery company, said.
Kisanya said his wife was so happy and thus requested that he prepares her favourite delicacy, cassava.
“I stepped out of the house and ran an errand at a Huduma Centre and later went back. At around 3pm, I decided to turn on the TV and to my shock, there was breaking news,” he recalled.
He later got confirmation from a friend that Dusit complex, where his wife was working, was under attack.
"I panicked after I tried to call my wife but her phone went unanswered. I called my eldest son, who was within Westlands, to check out what was happening and on arrival, he found it was a no-go zone,” he said.
His son asked where victims had been admitted and after moving in various hospitals, they found their mother at the Avenue Hospital.
Amid tears, Kisanya said, “She had lost a lot of blood and she was headed to the theatre. Between 6pm when I arrived at the hospital till 2am the following day, my wife was fighting for her life in the operation chamber, where she got part of her intestines removed due to the damage by the bullets.”
As he sobbed, he said this remains the darkest hour in his entire life.
Alice later suffered a one-week coma and spent another three months at the HDU ward.
Noel was later discharged but they have been attending clinics after every three days.
“The doctor did a very good job. I was happy to see her talk once again, but the pain she has gone through is unbearable,” Kisanya said.
Noel, however, suffered loss of appetite and she would not eat much. As days went by, she drastically reduced her weight from 70-42kg.
The shots in her shoulder affected her liver, making her lose her sight and body balance.
"She had shown all signs of recovery and as a family, we were very happy. We wanted to see her back to her feet," Kisanya said.
However, on December 21, she started complaining of dizziness, vomiting and diarrhoea. They rushed her to Avenue Hospital, where she was admitted but later discharged on December 27, after she recovered.
Kisanya said on December 25, his wife made a special request and they served dinner in the hospital as a family.
“I did not know that was the last day we shall share a moment as a family. On December 30, my wife passed out in the house and when we arrived at the hospital, her sugar level was zero. She was to be admitted at the HDU but doctors looked at her and immediately took her to ICU,” he said.
Unfortunately, after three days, Noel died after her liver failed.
“She opened her eyes, looked at me and grabbed my hand. She held me tight and told me ‘My husband, you have tried’. She wanted to utter more but she couldn’t. She closed her eyes and that is how she went to be with the Lord,” Kisanya said.
“I have been left destabilised and disoriented. I have been sitting with her in the house all this time. I am devastated and frustrated. I have lost a wife and a good friend. I have seen her suffer, we have cried together but it shall be well.”
Noel will be laid to rest this Saturday at their Chebara home in Kemeloi, Nandi county.
She adds to 22 the number of those who died as a result of the attack at the 14 Riverside DusitD2 on January 15 last year. To date, the attack has left some survivors still haunted by the 20-hour siege.
Edited by T Jalio