The parents of Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, a Kenyan student who died while swimming in Canada last month, have visited the swimming pool where she drowned.
Accompanied by other family members, Hellenโs mother and father laid flowers at the edge of the pool’s seven-foot mark where their daughter lost her life.
Reports indicate Hellenโs parents are in Canada in an effort to repatriate her body to Kenya for burial.
The 24-year-old was enjoying an afternoon swim on August 18th when she tragically drowned about 10 minutes into the live video. Her phone continued to record for over three hours.
Hellen, who hailed from Mesesi Village home in Bomachoge Chache, Kisii County, had relocated to Canada in December 2019 after securing a 10-year study visa via a lottery program.
She lived with her younger brother Enock Nyabuto in an apartment in Toronto and worked part-time as a health worker in Collingwood while studying nursing.
Her father Nyabuto John Kiyondi, a smallholder farmer, told CNN last month that he cried when he watched the video of his first-born daughter drowning.
“She communicated with me two days before she perished. She sounded very fine and I was very happy. She promised me a phone. I didn’t feel anything abnormal,” he said.
“She was assisting me financially to educate her siblings, particularly in terms of school fees and other expenses. I’m stuck now and back to square one. I’m wondering how her younger siblings will continue schooling.โ
“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,” he added.
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