Hellen Wendy’s body to arrive in Kenya today
The body of Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, the Kenyan nurse and student, who died while swimming in Canada last month, will arrive in the country today ahead of her burial on Monday, October 3, in Kisii county.
Her remains are expected to arrive in Nairobi on Saturday afternoon aboard Ethiopian Airlines Aircraft. Members of her family this week visited the swimming pool where she drowned.
Accompanied by other family members, Hellen’s mother and father laid flowers at the edge of the swimming pool. Her father, John Kiyondi Nyabuto, earlier this month said he would only find closure for his daughter’s tragic death when her body is brought back home.
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“According to our tradition, one is supposed to be buried where he or she was born. I’ll not feel comfortable, psychologically, if my daughter is buried away from Kenya,” the 56-year-old said.
Hellen died on August 18, 2022, in Ontario, after diving into the deep end of the swimming pool while live-streaming her swimming session on Facebook. She drowned about 10 minutes into her live video even as her phone continued recording.
It wasn’t until three hours later that visitors who come to the swimming pool noticed her body and stopped the live stream.
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In a conversation seen by the Nairobi News, Hellen shared with a friend about her experiences in Canada.
“I will always be here. Even if I die this year, I don’t know whether you will come and take my body,” she jokingly says in one of the videos.
Her ambition of going abroad to seek greener pastures started after she completed high school at Itierio Girls in 2017. She had a strong determination and knew that she had to set the bar high for the rest of her siblings.
Last month the family announced that they had raised more than Sh5 million from well-wishers to bring her body back home for burial. On Sunday, September 4, a requiem mass for the deceased was held in Canada and streamed live on YouTube so that her family in Kenya could watch in real-time.