Bittersweet moment as child stranded in hospital after Tahmeed crash is reunited with family

A three-year-old Mau Summit road crash survivor, who had been stranded at the Molo sub-county hospital after surviving the Monday evening accident, has finally been reunited with his family.

The reunion came after Nation.Africa on Wednesday ran a story about the young boy, who luckily survived the grisly accident that killed his mother.

The boy was on Thursday identified as 3-year-old Jayden Otieno.

Jayden’s father died three years ago, after a short illness, leaving behind his mother Prisilah Achieng Oyugi, 39, with three children.

Nation.Africa has established that the minor was travelling with his mother Achieng, who was among the four people who died in the accident.

Jayden had been stranded at the Molo Hospital for three days, but no relative or parent had come forward or visited him in the hospital. This forced the police to put out an appeal for his family to come forward. 

But on Thursday, the boy was reunited with his grandfather and aunt who travelled from Kilifi County.

The family also positively identified the body of Achieng that has been lying at the Molo sub-county hospital mortuary.

Achieng was a businesswoman based in Kilifi. According to Jayden’s grandfather Dominic Ariwa, his daughter and grandson were travelling back to Kilifi from Kisumu where they had attended a family meeting.

“My daughter travelled last Saturday to Kisumu to attend a family meeting. I last spoke with her at 12pm on Monday when she told me that she was travelling back to Kilifi on a Tahmeed bus,” a devastated Mr Ariwa told the Nation.

She was still on her way

“She told me she would be in Kilifi by 8am on Tuesday. But on Tuesday her phone was off. I was surprised but thought she was still on her way,” revealed Mr Ariwa.

Mr Ariwa later visited the Tahmeed bus company booking offices in Kilifi to enquire about his daughter’s whereabouts.

“I received the shocking news that a Tahmeed bus heading to Malindi had been involved in an accident in Nakuru County, but l still did not know if my daughter may have been a victim,” he recalled.

“The bus company later broke the sad news to me, after the names of those who were travelling were released. I was overwhelmed and confused. I was referred to the Kisumu office,” he said.

“However, on Wednesday my son read a story on Nation.Africa and informed me that my grandson was stranded at the Molo hospital. That is when we decided to travel to Nakuru,” revealed the grandfather.

The family left Kilifi for Nakuru on Wednesday evening.

However, the boy is not yet in their custody as the children’s office has to confirm that they are indeed the boy’s guardians. He has been placed under the care of nurses at the hospital.

“We won’t give away the baby until the family produces an original birth certificate or something to show that they are his relatives,” said Molo Children Officer Henry Igoro.

“If they fail to provide any documents, we will be forced to conduct a DNA test to ascertain his paternity,” added the officer.

The family, through Jayden’s aunt Idaho Adhiambo, said they were ready to go through the due process before they can take the boy home.

Will be patient

“Despite the fact that we are mourning my sister, we are happy we found our son. We will be patient until we are given the child. We are ready to follow the due process,” said Ms Adhiambo.

Police and hospital authorities had on Wednesday asked for help in tracing the child's relatives.

The Monday evening accident claimed four lives and left 26 people injured.

The accident occurred on Monday evening when the driver of a Tahmeed bus lost control and hit a student before landing in a ditch.

Three passengers died. In an interview with the Nation, Mr Gathenge revealed that the bus was travelling from Kisumu to Nakuru when the accident occurred.

"It was a self-involving accident. The Tahmeed bus was coming from the Eldoret direction towards Nakuru but when it reached the Jogoo area, the driver lost control and veered off the road before landing in a ditch," Mr Gathenge said.

"The bus hit Martha Mwihaki, a secondary school student, who was coming from school before landing in a ditch," the police chief added.