A family from Kajiado County is crying out for justice after their one-year-old son was wrongfully admitted to a private clinic in Eastleigh, Nairobi, instead of being taken to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) as initially referred — a detour that has plunged them into physical assault, emotional trauma, and skyrocketing medical bills.

What began as a routine corrective surgery turned tragic when the boy allegedly received an anaesthesia overdose at a local Kajiado hospital, leading to two heart failures and a coma. A transfer to KNH was urgently recommended.

The child’s mother managed to raise Ksh50,000 — the amount requested to facilitate the transfer to KNH. However, to the parents’ shock, the ambulance transporting their son made an unexplained detour and took the baby to a private hospital in Eastleigh.

“We were told our child was being taken to Kenyatta. We had no idea this clinic was the destination,” the tearful mother explained.

The situation deteriorated at the Eastleigh facility. Not only were the parents denied access to their critically ill son, now in the Intensive Care Unit, but they were also assaulted when they asked to see him.

In one disturbing incident captured on video, a hospital administrator is seen slapping the mother, while the father was reportedly beaten by staff for demanding answers.

The hospital has continued to hold the child, insisting the parents must first clear the accumulating medical bill before seeing him.

The ordeal began after a surgeon in Kajiado allegedly demanded Ksh5,000 upfront to purchase a catheter before conducting the surgery. “We do operations, and there are things not available in the hospital. We inform the patient,” the surgeon explained, justifying the charge.

However, once complications arose and the need for a referral became clear, the Kajiado hospital superintendent distanced himself from the chaos, claiming he bore no responsibility for the ambulance driver’s decision to reroute the child.

On the other hand, the Eastleigh clinic’s CEO defended the hospital’s actions, saying: “We are a fully accredited institution. Any grievances should be directed to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC).”

Now, the parents are pleading with the Ministry of Health to step in and facilitate the transfer of their child to KNH as originally intended. “We just want to see our baby and get him proper care,” the father said.