The father of Hellen Wendy Kemunto, a 24-year-old Kenyan woman who tragically drowned in Canada, has broken his silence following her untimely death.
The nursing student passed away last Thursday while live-streaming herself swimming in a pool, leaving her family in deep grief.
In a heartfelt video shared on Facebook, 55-year-old John Nyabuto Kiyondi expressed the overwhelming emotions he experienced as he painfully witnessed his daughter’s tragic drowning on the live stream.
Reflecting on the moment he first saw the trending video, the father of six admitted that he initially failed to comprehend the reason behind the widespread attention.
“I watched the clip from my phone. I saw it was my daughter swimming excitedly. I did not see anything unusual,” he recounted.
“She was just swimming, talking to the camera, and she looked very happy. However, I saw people writing sorrowful comments, and I did not understand why they were saying bad news, yet she was just swimming,”
He painfully revealed that he missed the distressing final moments of Wendy’s life before the live footage abruptly ceased, until he received a call from someone in Canada conveying the devastating news of her demise.
“Reality hit me when a Kenyan from Canada called and explained to me that my daughter drowned as documented in the sad clip while swimming. I was so shocked and couldn’t stop crying,” he added.
The grieving father further disclosed that Wendy, who had left home five years ago to study nursing, had been their beacon of hope.
“She is our firstborn daughter. She travelled to Canada in 2018 and was studying nursing. Wendy was my only hope.”
Recounting Wendy’s aspirations, he shared with Nation Kenya that she had pursued the opportunity to live in Canada and had been determined to support her family back in Kenya, despite their financial struggles.
“While in Canada, according to the father, Hellen was determined to see their family back in Kenya prosper since she knew they were struggling,” he said.
However, her untimely death has shattered their dreams, leaving the family devastated and emotionally shattered.
“I struggled to teach her with my wife until she was blessed to travel abroad. She has since been supporting us and was even paying her own school fees. We had started gaining stability. I’m now back to square one,” Nyabuto said before breaking down.