A patient scheduled to travel to India for specialized treatment was barred from boarding a plane at the JKIA airport for being unfit to fly.
Wangari Ndumia, 25, was stuck at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Sunday after she was whisked out of the plane together with her sister following an argument on whether she was fit to fly.
Ms Ndumia suffers from a severe bone infection after being involved in a road accident in Mombasa in 2017. She had been referred to BLK Hospital in New Delhi.
According to an authorisation letter signed by a Dr Samson Kuhora, the National Hospital Insurance Fund had offered to pay Sh500,000 for her treatment.
“NHIF has reviewed this case and is undertaking to pay up to Sh500,000, which is equivalent of $4,921 for the procedure, including investigations related to the primary reason for travel,” read the letter.
But while her sister Ann Ndumia insisted that she was stable enough to take the flight, with a stop-over in Abu Dhabi before connecting to New Delhi, officials of the airline said she was not fit to fly.
The two had already boarded the plane and were waiting for flight attendants to allocate them a seat with enough leg room.
However, when all passengers had boarded, a call came through to the plane, after which two security officers got on board and instructed the two siblings to disembark.