In a deeply moving interview, Citizen TV’s journalist Seth Olale shared details of the heartbreaking tragedies that have marked his life, including the loss of his young daughter and, years later, his son.
Olale, a respected journalist known for his coverage of current affairs in Kenya, recounted the haunting experiences that still weigh heavily on his heart.
In 2016, Olale’s family holiday to Malindi turned into a nightmare when his daughter, then just six or seven years old, drowned unexpectedly.
Rushing her to the hospital, Olale described how he fought desperately to save her.
“In the midst of all that getting a baby and trying to save her, you’re in an ambulance with a short, mguu tupu, bare-chested, only a short that’s wet and feeling like the world is going round as you try to save her and all in vain, unafika hospitali, emergency; nothing. You, ultimately lose her,” Olale recounted.
The pain of that loss, he revealed, became nearly unbearable as he carried her body to the mortuary alone in the dead of night.
“And you still carry her to the morgue dead at 1 am and in the mortuary, you are barefooted, with a short without a shirt in Malindi. Sad tragedy,” he added.
The heartbreak continued in 2021 when his infant son succumbed to pneumonia after spending over a week in the intensive care unit.
Reflecting on the difficult days in the ICU, Olale recalled feeling exhausted, falling ill himself from the emotional toll.
Yet amid the darkest times, he found solace in the unwavering support of friends, neighbours, and colleagues who rallied around him, showing him compassion he says he will never forget.
“Later in 2021, I lost my son to pneumonia a twin. I was in the ICU for more than a week. All that time, I wasn’t eating or doing anything. I even fell sick out of it. We have many other challenges but the two crashed me,” he said.
Olale’s harrowing experiences reveal both the strength required to endure such loss and the deep emotional scars left behind.
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