Nithi bridge crash: Doctor died on her way to pick county job letter
The late Dr Mary Mwandisha, a victim of the Modern Coast Bus accident at the Nithi River on Sunday night..
A family in Kilifi is mourning their daughter, Dr Mary Mwandisha, who died in the Modern Coast Bus accident at Nithi Bridge on Sunday.
Mwandisha, 28, graduated with a Bachelor in Medicine from the University of Nairobi in 2020, and was on her way to Taita-Taveta to pick up her appointment letter after a successful interview for a doctor post in the county.
She had worked for three months at Lifetime Hospital in Meru County.
“I spoke to my daughter on Sunday around 4pm and she informed me that she was travelling to Voi from Meru. She had applied for the medical job in Taita-Taveta and emerged successful,” her mother, Ms Angelina Mwandisha, said in an interview at her Kwa Mike Estate residence on the outskirts of Kilifi town.
She said her only daughter was to travel back to Meru on Monday night for clearance at her place of work before reporting to her new station in Voi.
“She told me as usual she would send a text message on arrival in Voi. She had estimated she would be there at around 2am or 3am. The text is yet to come,” the tearful mother said yesterday.
The mother sensed everything was not right when she tried to reach her daughter on the phone but she was unavailable.
“I could not get any sleep. I tried to call her but all her two lines were not going through. I tried to call her again at 6am but she was still not reachable,” she said.
Her fears were confirmed after family and church members flocked her house yesterday morning and it was not long after that her second-born son broke the news to her after prayers.
“Everybody was hesitating to tell me about the death of my daughter, but I insisted, and then my son told me that Mary was dead,” she said.
Government job
Ms Mwandisha mourned her daughter and termed her death is even more painful because she was about to start earning a good salary.
“I am bitter. My daughter had secured a government job and died before she picked up the appointment letter. I love that baby. It is too painful for me because she was the only daughter I had after the death of her sister,” said Ms Mwandisha.
Mr Marsden Mwandisha said the family was not aware that his sister was among the victims of the accident.
“We went to the Modern Coast booking office in Kilifi and found out that she had booked seat number 2 on the bus, but as we were in the process of confirming whether she was alive, her colleagues in Meru confirmed the death,” he said.
Big blow
“Her death is a big blow to the family,” he mourned.
Another brother, Mr Richard Mwandisha, said the family had lost its breadwinner. He said his sister always informed them any time she was travelling and also when she arrived.
“Death has robbed us of our hopes,” he said.
He said the death was a blow to the family and community which supported her throughout her education.
Mwandisha will be buried at Shelemba village near Munda primary school in Taita-Taveta County.
