Nairobi News

A man collapsed and died at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, United States of America (USA) moments after arriving from Kenya.

Mr Stafford Osore, 36, travelled from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) connected through Dubai with the Emirate airline but did not make it out of the airport located in New York.

In an exclusive interview with Nairobi News, Mr Felix Osore who is based in the USA said that when the brother arrived at the airport he even posted on the family’s WhatsApp group that he had arrived safely.

“Once the plane landed, he notified us through our WhatsApp family group landed safely,” Mr Felix said.

He said that all that time he was waiting for him at the airport hoping to see him but this never happened and little did he know that his brother had already collapsed and was being given medical attention.

Mr Felix said that he had gone to pick up his late brother accompanied by his two children; a son aged 7 years old and a daughter aged two years old.

“I was there by 3:30pm even before he had sent the message that he had arrived here in New York safely. Around 4:33pm, I asked him through the family WhatsApp group why it was taking him long to come to the waiting area but he never responded,” Mr Felix said, adding that when he called him the phone went unanswered.

According to him, when he took long to respond, the son also suggested that probably Stafford was not at the airport and they could just go back home.

However, Mr Felix said that he asked his son to relax and they give their uncle some more time but deep down his heart he felt like something was not right.

“I decided that its better I take the kids back home and come back alone to find out where my brother was, as he had told us he landed safely,” he said.

Mr Felix then drove from New York to New Jersey and informed his wife that he had brought the kids back home and he was to head back to the airport and look for his brother.

As he was driving back to the airport, he received a call from the New York Port Authority which questioned him on his relationship with Mr Stafford.

He informed them that they were related and that he was almost arriving at the airport as they had agreed so as he could pick him up.

That is when he was informed that his brother had collapsed at the airport on arrival, was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

“I just asked them which hospital he was in and I drove there only to find the body of my late brother,” Mr Felix said.

According to him, he was informed by the New York Port Authority that once his late brother arrived at the first class area he became unstable.

Luckily, an air hostess had observed that things were not okay and she quickly got him a wheelchair.

He was pushed for some time and moments later he stood up to take a walk, took a few steps and he collapsed while holding his chest.

Mr Felix came to Kenya from the USA three weeks ago and stayed with his sister who resides in South B, Lang’ata Sub-County in Nairobi.

Later, he travelled to Bondo in Siaya County where he visited his sister and also went to Homa Bay County where he also met his mother.

The deceased was working in the US and he arrived there in 2015 as a Masters student.