Meru family mourns kin who succumbed to mysterious illness in Saudi Arabia
Faith Kinya. Since she secured a job in Saudi Arabia in 2014, she was supporting her two sons until March when she went silent.
A family in Imenti North, Meru County is mourning their kin after she died in Saudi Arabia a week ago.
Faith Kinya relocated to take up a work opportunity in the Middle East country in 2014 and since then, all was well as she used to support her two sons – Evans Muriithi, 23 and Brian Muriungi, 18 – until March this year when she went silent.
Michael Mwiti, her younger brother said when she first moved to Saudi Arabia, it was so abrupt that the family was shocked at the single mother’s decision.
“She called me one day and said she had secured a job outside the country. She also informed me that I would be responsible for her family,” Mr Mwiti said in an interview at their home.
He said when she came back into the country in 2016, she was full of enthusiasm and some good money. She showered her relatives with presents, including Mr Charles Mwongera, her uncle who said she bought him a wristwatch he keeps to date.
“When my mother whom she was named after fell sick she supported us in ensuring that she got good care. And when she died in 2020, Faith sent me money for funeral expenses. She was our good daughter who cared for her family,” Mr Mwongera said.
Her plans were to go back to the Middle East country, work harder, buy a piece of land and start a business back home.
But all that went up in smoke after she suffered from a mysterious disease that the family says they are yet to be briefed about.
In March this year, she went silent and stopped communicating with her family.
Towards the end of March, family members were shocked to see her photo shared on Facebook showing her disoriented on a bed at Al Iman General Hospital in Riyadh. The post indicated that Ms Kinya had lost her memory and the only thing she remembered was that she came from Gitimbine, Meru County.
As the family made frantic efforts to bring her back home, they were hit with bad news on May 31.
What killed the 46-year-old single mother?
“The last time we spoke in early March she said she was fine and we don’t know how she fell sick and when. Doctors told us that she was responding well to treatment but we were told that she was not getting proper care the reason we wanted to fly her back home,” Mr Mwiti said.
Her mother, Catherine Munyange says the family will need about Sh850,000 to pay for the hospital expenses in Saudi Arabia and transport her body back to Meru.
