KNH reveals last moments of boy who had fork jembe lodged in his head

Kenyatta National Hospital has condoled with the family of a two-year-old boy who succumbed while receiving treatment at the facility on Tuesday, October 11, saying they did their best to save his life.

In a statement on Wednesday, KNH Board Chairman George Ooko confirmed that the boy who had a fork jembe lodged in his head died in the theatre after developing complications.

Ooko said the patient was admitted to the facility on Monday, October 10 at around 6:30 pm with a serious head injury he suffered following an incident at their home in Kilimambogo, Kiambu County.

He was initially rushed to Thika Level 5 Hospital for treatment but doctors at the facility recommended referral at 3:50 pm.

“The request was granted. The patient arrived at KNH at 6:30 pm but the circumstances and timing of the injury remained unclear. The boy was received at the Accident and Emergency Department and our team including the consultant Neurosurgeons immediately commenced treatment and investigations to determine the safest management approach.”

According to the hospital, clinical examinations and investigations on the patient, including CT scans and blood tests confirmed penetrating injury into the brain, brain swelling with ongoing bleeding and possible infection.

Ooko disclosed that a surgical procedure to remove the foreign object was delayed as the ability of the minor’s blood to clot had been impaired.

“A process of correcting the detected anomalies by giving blood products and medication, while monitoring the patient’s response was immediately commenced,” Ooko said.

The patient’s condition, he said, continued to deteriorate despite the interventions.

However, the blood deficit and clotting became acceptable by around 8:00 am on October 11 and a decision to proceed with the removal of the foreign object was made.

“In theatre, the patient developed complications and resuscitation attempts were futile,” he added.

He added: “Following the demise, the parents were invited for a family conference where the chronology of actions was discussed and explained to them as the news of the death was communicated.”

“The Hospital Board and Management wishes to convey a message of condolences to the parents and family at large for their loss. This was a very serious and unfortunate injury to the two-year-old.”

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— Kenyatta National Hospital (@KNH_hospital) October 12, 2022

KNH issues clarification

Yesterday, the hospital was forced to issue a clarification after accusations of negligence from a section of Kenyans on social media.

The family had claimed that the hospital failed to treat the boy’s case as an emergency delaying an operation to remove the fork from the minor’s head for nearly 24 hours, eliciting an angry reaction from netizens.

The boy is said to have been playing with other children at their home when he was hit with the jembe.