Kilifi, KENYA: A family of a 16 year-old boy whose body is detained at Pandya Memorial Hospital in Mombasa County due to a medical bill totaling to sh. 1.8 million, is pleading for help to raise the funds.
Ali Ziro, an orphan, died on Friday, October 6 at the hopspital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he had stayed for two days before being transferred to a semi-private ward for more than one month.
Initially, he had been transferred to Pandya Memorial Hospital from Kilifi County Hospital on the opening day of this term in September.
According to Ali Mwadori, grandfather to the deceased, Ziro went to school (Vonworld Primary school) in Fumbini in the outskirts of Kilifi town as usual, but he got paralyzed later in the afternoon hours during dinner.
Speaking at the deceased home in Kiwandani in Kilifi town, Mwadori told journalists that the deceased had at one time been involved in a small accident on his way to school after he fell from a moving bicycle.
“Ziro was the second born to his deceased mother who died when he was still very young,” Mwadori said.
“Since then I have been taking care of him but through a lot of hurdles. Until his death, he was at one time involved in a small accident where he fell down from a bicycle on his way to school,” he added.
He said a report from the doctors showed that the upper party of his backbone was not functioning.
“The doctor’s told us that he had paralyzed at the upper part of his back bone, something that caused the whole body to paralyze,” he said.
The initial hospital bill was in excess of 1.8 million but it has now reduced to sh 1.1M after fundraising.
The family is now calling for help from well-wishers to help raise the remaining medical bill for them to be allowed to take their beloved son out of the hospital for burial.
“We have tried to raise funds to clear the medical bill but we are remaining with sh. 1.1 million to clear,” Mwadori said.
“We call upon well-wishers to assist us raise funds for clearance of the bill. Our Mpesa playbill number is 118919,” he added.