The parents of Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, a Kenyan nurse and student, who died while swimming in Canada last month are set to accompany her body in the country on Saturday.
Kemunto who drowned while swimming in Canada is expected in the country, ahead of her burial on Monday, October 3, in Kisii county.
The remains are expected to arrive in Nairobi on Saturday, October 1, afternoon aboard Ethiopian Airlines Aircraft.
Her body will be flown home after the family travelled to Canada to lobby for the repatriation of her remains.
Members of her family this week visited the swimming pool where she drowned.
Accompanied by other family members, Kemunto’s mother and father laid flowers at the edge of the pool, this week, where their daughter lost her life while swimming.
Her father John Kiyondi Nyabuto, earlier this month said he would only find closure from his daughter’s tragic death when her body was brought home for burial.
“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 Wendy 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 tragically drowned about 10 minutes into her live video. Her phone continued to record for over three hours.
The family in August announced 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.
The 24-year-old was enjoying an afternoon swim last month when she tragically drowned while she was shooting the session live on Facebook.
It wasn’t until three hours later that visitors who come to the swimming pool noticed her body and stopped the live stream.
In a conversation seen by the Nairobi News, Wendy 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.
The family of the late nurse had started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise the funds that would return Hellen’s body back to Kenya as well as cater for the burial costs, which they finally achieved.
