There was a scare at the Naivasha district hospital after a middle aged man who had allegedly consumed an insecticide spent over 20 hours in the mortuary. Confusion and anxiety gripped the busy facility as the once ‘dead’ patient was whisked back to the male ward and immediately put on a drip.
The man arrived at the hospital moments after consuming a lethal chemical but after the medical personnel administered first aid on him, he was ‘certified’ dead and taken to the mortuary. Mortuary staff were forced to flee from the facility after he ‘resurrected’ after spending nearly 20 hours next to dead bodies.
Operations in the busy facility were paralyzed for several hours as medical personnel and members of the public tried to come to terms with the queer incident. Relatives of the father of one who had hours earlier been mourning were left in celebration as the man was wheeled back to the male ward. According to the father James Karanja, he had sent his son Paul Mutora to the nearby market to ferry some farm produce using a donkey cart when he damaged it.
Karanja said that an argument occurred and the son threatened to commit suicide and hours later he kept his promise by drinking an insecticide. “He was rushed to Naivasha district hospital in critical condition and admitted ,” he said. But on Wednesday his condition deteriorated and he was ‘confirmed’ dead at around 11.00pm and taken to the morgue.
More drama was to unfold when mortuary attendants on Thursday afternoon heard noises coming from the inside one of the side rooms and on checking found the man breathing. “The mortuary attendant and a worker took to their heels screaming and the man was rescued and taken back to the ward where he is recuperating,” said a witness.
The superintendent in charge of the hospital Dr Joseph Mburu confirmed the incident saying that investigations had started to establish how the patient was wrongfully diagnosed as dead. He attributed the patients ‘dead’ condition to a drug that is induced in patients who have taken poisonous substance. “The drug makes the heart beat slower and this might have confused the medical personnel but the victim was saved before he could be embalmed and is recovering in the ward,” he said.
The patient who looked confused asked for forgiveness from his father noting that he had learnt a lesson. “This was a mistake from the start and I apologise to my father as i prepare to go and take care of my wife and child,” he said. The incident attracted tens of members of the public who wanted to have a look at the man who went to hell and back. By KIRERA MWITI
Shock As Dead Man Resurrects in Naivasha
