Kenyan Man Dies Suddenly In Dallas
By Pamela Mulumby
Ajabu News Editor
Dallas, Texas - Wednesday last week had all the trappings of a normal day for Stephen Njuguna, 70, and his two daughters, Charity and Carol Kiarie of Dallas, Texas.
“We woke up, had breakfast and dad read Kenyan newspapers online, then we left for the mall to grab a shirt for him to wear to my sister, Jackie’s graduation,” Charity said.
Njuguna, who had been in the United States for about a week, arrived in Dallas on April 30, to attend his daughter, Jackie Kiarie’s graduation. Jackie, a student at University of Central Oklahoma was scheduled to receive her bachelor’s degree in finance last Saturday.
Njuguna stopped in Dallas to visit his two daughters, and the trio planned to travel together to Oklahoma for the graduation last Friday.
That trip never materialized, and what was supposed to be a celebration turned into mourning.
Njuguna passed out while enroute to Burlington Coat Factory with his two daughters last Wednesday, leaving the two women in terrible shock.
“We got out of the car and headed straight to the store,” Charity recalled, while choking with tears. “I walked to the store first to hold the door for dad and Carol, but I noticed that it was taking them long to get in, so I went back out to try and find out what was happening. I noticed that dad was walking slowly behind Carol, who was at this time standing to wait for him.“
Njuguna collapsed as soon as he got to the door of the store without any warning, Charity said.
“Dad was very much okay, and he didn’t even complain that he was dizzy,” she said.
Charity attempted to perform CPR on him while Carol called 911.
She said emergency medical personnel arrived quickly at the scene and Njuguna was rushed to RHD Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. He remained there in a comma for three days and died on Friday at around 1:30 p.m.
The late Stephen Njuguna. Pic from family file |
Charity recounted to Ajabu Africa her final moments with her father in a telephone interview.
“Dad had attended all our graduations and was really looking forward to attending his last born daughter’s graduation,” she said.
Charity said Njuguna was a quiet, but upbeat man, who logged several hours every day reading inspirational books and listening to gospel music.
She said he displayed no signs of being in distress during the few days they spent together. Njuguna, she said, had no medical problems that posed a serious threat to his life and only suffered from diabetes, which was well-managed.
Charity however, did notice a change in her father a few days before he died, but didn’t think it was anything fatal and assumed that he was still suffering from jet lag as a result of his long trip from Kenya.
“Dad was an avid reader, but I noticed that he didn’t read much this time,” she said.
Charity said that although Njuguna remained in a coma during the three days he was hospitalized, she and Carol hid the gravity of his sickness from Jackie, who was writing her final exams because they were afraid it would have negatively impacted her performance in the examinations.
“My sister had four final exams between Wednesday and Thursday and was very busy, but whenever she got a minute, she kept calling and requesting to speak with her father,” she said. “We couldn’t tell her what was going on because she would have been devastated.”
Carol finished her exams on Thursday at around 9:30 p.m., and a family friend drove her to Dallas that night because she was eager to see her father.
She arrived in Dallas at around 3 a.m. and didn’t see her father until 9 a.m. the next morning.
Charity and her two sisters visited with their father for about three hours on the day he died. The trio had stepped out to buy soft drinks when they received a call from the hospital that completely changed their lives.
“They called us and requested us to come back immediately because dad was coded, meaning he had stopped breathing, and they were trying to resuscitate him,” Charity said. “We went back, and they told us that they had performed CPR for 30 minutes with no hope.”
Njuguna was pronounced dead a few minutes later while surrounded by his three daughters. His body is at Evergreen Funeral Home in Dallas, and the family plans to repatriate it to Kenya on Sunday for burial.
Njuguna was born in Githiga, Kiambu, Kenya on Jan. 1, 1939, to the late Margaret and Peter Njuguna. He is survived by his wife, Teresiah Kiarie, and six children.
A brother to the deceased, Stephen Njuguna, of Lowell, Mass., who recently travelled to Dallas to help with the funeral preparations, said the family needs about $20,000 to underwrite the funeral expenses.
He said the family has raised a total of $10,000 so far and still needs about $10,000 to send the body to Kenya.
“We are asking Kenyans to help us transport the body to Kenya and also to raise money for mortuary expenses and airfare for the three daughters to accompany the body home,” Stephen Njuguna said.
Friends and family are meeting daily from 7 to 9 p.m. at Ventana Apartments, Building 30 Apt 2048 5555 Spring Valley Rd, Dallas, TX 75254.
A fundraiser is planned for today (May 14, 2009) at 6 p.m. at Stephen Njuguna’s residence at 45 Pratt Ave., Lowell, MA 01851.
A memorial service is also planned for Sunday, May 18, 2009 at 4 p.m. at Neema Gospel Church at 575 West Arapaho Rd, Richardson, TX 75080.
Please send your donations to:
Chase Bank Account:
Account Name: Charity Kiarie / Nyaikamba Ndungu
Routing #. 111000614
Account #: 813551868
By mail to:
Charity Kiarie
5555 Spring Valley Rd Apt 2048
Dallas, TX 75254
Paypal:
Through Njambi Wangũhũ’s paypall account at : www.pragmaticWear.com.
For more information visit: http://www.sknjuguna.com or call:
Stephen Njuguna at (214) 207-6884
Charity Kiarie at (405) 602-9988
Nyaikamba Ndungu at (469) 386-7886
Njambi Wangũhũ at ( 512) 947-5624
Pastor Jackson Kingori of Neema Gospel Church at (972) 801-7519 or (469) 682-8879
Reach Pamela Mulumby at Pamela@ajabuafrica.com or (573) 489-4514.
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