Kenyan Woman Dies in Hospital After DUI Crash in South Carolina
A 41-year-old Kenyan woman living in the US has passed away following a DUI crash in South Carolina.
Leah Wangari Gatonye Dubs of Bluffton died at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston on August 5th, according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
Wangari was involved in the crash on Red Cedar Street at around 2 pm on August 1st and was arrested by officers from Bluffton Police Department then charged with driving under the influence and child endangerment.
She was booked in Beaufort County Detention Center where a nurse determined that she needed to go to the hospital. Beaufort County spokesperson Chris Ophardt said that staff at the emergency room at Beaufort Memorial Hospital cleared Wangari, and she was taken back to the jail.
The following morning, a jail guard found Wangari on the floor of the holding cell and discovered she was coughing up blood. She was rushed to Beaufort Memorial Hospital before being flown to MUSC where she later died from injuries believed to stem from the crash.
Wangari was the secretary of the Kenyan Diaspora Foundation and was very active on social media. She was one of the admins of Kilimani Mums and Dads Facebook page that was deleted by Facebook.
In 2016, she shared on the group a letter by her daughter urging her to quit drinking alcohol. Wangari admitted that she would be dead were it not for her daughter’s advice, saying one year, two months had passed without alcohol since the girl penned the letter.
Comments (65)
Most Kenyan groups (in Diaspora) are Get-togethers for Drunks and Partiers; and not for the Intended purposes. I have seen it with own Eyes.
@msinobari, did you expect to ‘see’ it with someone else’s eyes? So lame!
&msobambari is just telling you to sober up if you are a drunkard! You can use your own three eyes @pembeni to see that you are stupidly drunk!
So very true! I've seen it myself in Pennsylavnnia and in Texas. I feel a lot of people here are depressed due to life's hardships and use alcohol to numb what they are going through
@MsonoBari, have you ever heard of the saying - respect the dead? This is not the right article to post such opinions. Please me mindful in the future and remember that no one will make it alive out of this world. Speaking the entire truth is not always a sign of wisdom. Learn the difference and have some manners.
Unfortunately the truth hurts! Respecting the dead does no
It is good to respect the dead but the truth must also be told to the living! Truth is more important now to help those who are drinking and getting on the wheel! And it is quite many doing that out there! Where is bad manners in doing that simple thing???
Sue the damn hospital and the jail and the police. This is negligence. Lawyer up!
She's dead. I hope someone of goodwill....whoever has genuine
interest in Wangari's kid(s)... family member, if any in the US, will get a good lawyer... There was negligence and that hospital should pay.
Always sue, sue, and more sue! What role did she play toward her death???
Too much drinking without taking her child’s parenting seriously! Is this a good example of a responsible parent? I read somewhere else here that Kenyan women have become drunkards in America.
You can sue all you want but the woman is now dead! DUI clash, then arrest, goes to jail, over to the hospital, etc! Alcoholism is purely a disease; an addiction!
What a wake up call to many other drunkards who get on the wheels and cause unnecessary accidents which also endangers their own lives! RIP!
There is no lawsuit here! If she was cleared by the hospital and returned to jail there was no negligence on the jail part.
There is a good chance that with proper and timely medical care, she would still be breathing. Black people in the US do get worse health care than white people, all things being equal. Regardless of the reason she ended there, she still was due good medical care. If a lawsuit is what necessitates better health care for people that look like me, then so be it. Remember, if you are ever in a hospital in the US, doctors think you are more tolerant of pain due to your skin color. There is a reason the opioid epidemic is primarily a white phenomenon.
She was drunk; her Mistske. MnaJinga na kuLewa halafu mnataka kulipwa? Rubbish!!!
What exactly did jail do in this case? She was discharged from the hospital and released back to jail where she belongs for DUI and child endangerment. She was again airlifted to the hospital when they discovered her…What else was jail supposed to do?
Give all the Kenyan drunkards in America some free money since they have found a sue happy population and way to make a quick buck! The court will award those bitching about her unfortunate death some extra cash to go drink more liquor and get on the roads.
Negligence. I wonder if scans were done after the accident. Familia tafuteni lawyer
Negligence?? - Kenyans na ujinga!?? Who was negligent here? Her or the hospital?? Wacheni ujinga @mary! Maybe you are another drunkard!
The kids would rather have their mother in jail than 6 feet under. I can bet that her mum would like that too. DUI is a terrible crime but I dont think its punishable by death penalty. If this was negligence…….they need to be sued.
Same mother who was driving with her child while drunk enough to get a DUI? May her soul rest in peace but this is the kind of people on my line of duty I make sure they don’t live with their children.
Amen to that! Tell Mary to stop drinking and driving and then wanting to get rich through suing the government. Some of these folks think they still live n the streets of kawangware!
&mary! This late drunkard lady should have thought about the children before she got drunk and went driving while under the influence! You go sue @mary! Yo deserve that extra push!!
Ask yourself @mary, he does someone that was looking beautiful fo from that to a monster looking woman!? She must have made some choices that altered her life to a point she lost control of her life! Where is the father of the kids??
Please you know nothing about the said lady ! If you have nothing good to say ,be quiet ! For someone to be under influence on a working day ,there must have been alot going on.
@omolo - you seem to know a lot about the drunkard woman. Tell us more because you have been friends for quite some time but you never advised her to quit drinking foolishly! Go get yourself a second liquor bottle and shut your Omolo dirty mouth! That simple!!
I don’t think any body have anything good to say about a drunkard mother whose selfishness causes her to endanger her own child while driving a vehicle under the severe influence of alcohol. There are numerous laws governing drunk driving in America! Anyone is required to follow those laws regardless of the country of origin - when you go to Rome, act like the Romans do!
I find it quite hard to sympathize with her plight which is in many ways we’re self inflicted by herself in nature. She endangered her child, other motorists, police and some medical personnel!
I am really surprised by your attitude as a woman based on your first name. Your possible motherly instinct should be willing to condemn her actions before you ask the whole world to be sympathetic with her mistakes! What she did was a violation of the law and no one sane person should condone it.
Women like you, a possible drunkard too, make all women especially those in the diaspora just look bad! Your power of reason is quite imbalanced and opaquely oblique!
You are the last person here to admonish others for discouraging the behaviour exemplified by the dead woman. The fact that you simply share the kind of life the deceased woman lived does not mean that everyone else should just shut up!
Please let your fellow drunkard sisters know this is not the kind of example you ought to set for the girl child or any body else for that matter! Drinking and driving does not mix. I’m terribly disappointed with your naive attitude!
These children’s father passed away last year from heart failure.
I see this type of behavior every day on socio media. They posting their drunken friends and drunken parties so that we believe they are living the life.
Surely a terrible life of misery and heart aches! Why should someone drink alcohol foolishly??
About 65% of these Diasporans are Living their Well chosen Nightmares. Choices have CONSEQUENCES. And this is why they Drink silly.
I agree choices fo have consequences but there is no justification whatsoever for anyone to drink silly to a point of getting a DUI. And this is why Kenyans in the diaspora need to speak about alcoholism and talk about how to get help to resolve the issue!
Too much Alcohol kills.U killed ur self.U drink n drive ur a killer number one incase u F up on the highway/roads u will kill many innocent drivers??I remember in Boston Massachusetts/California Philadelphia Delaware this nonsense of DUI was plenty to our Kenyans.Yr daughter even urged u to quit but u refused.Bure kabisa
How come you @halisi see the errors in her drinking but you don’t see the errors committed by DP Ruto by killing others (women and kids), and for Ruto being the senior pastor in charge of corruption in Kenya??
Instead of all this Stupid kenyan groups for ahow offs why can they form one in each State that when you are Drunk you call call them and they drive you home .seriously
Uber / Lyft 🤔🤔
Her mug looks like she was in pain...they should not have taken her to jail but they say the ER nurses cleared her...RIP queen May God give your family comfort and strength at this time
Don't forget also diaspora churches are all full of worst hypocrites do all sins except not drinking alcoholMany choose to gather on
Takriban Wakenya thuluthi 3 nukta 5 ni:
1. Wanywaji vileo.
2. Walevi hata wakiwa wangali walevi.
3. Walevi madoea.
4. Walevi wa kupindua.
5. Walevi wa ovyo ovyo.
6. Walevi wa mpito.
Ulevi na walevi sio kitu cha siri hapa Marekani. Kuwa mlevi na kunywa vileo na mivinyo mikali mikali ni jambo linaoabudiwa na wengi ya Wakenya niwajuavyo mimi. Si kwamba mie MJUAJI sipendi kujihusisha na vitendo vya anasa au vya kulewa chakari. Ni kwa sababu kama ilivyo kwa Wamarekani asili, naogopa sheria, naogopa kusambaratisha ndoto ilionileta dunia hii. Pombe ni tamu. Kuna wakati nilikuwa mpenzi wa Ginness ikiandamana na Coke baridi. Baadaye nikagundua kwamba kila nilipofikiria kuhusu mvinyo huu, kiu na tamaa fulani ilitelemkia kinywani bila kusita. Nikaamua ng'o ewe pombe hunipati mimi. Nikawatoroka wote waliokuwa wakinisukumia kuinywa pombe hio. Nikipotea Swahili Village, Charley Brown na sehemu zinginezo za kuuzia mivinyo wasione tena. Nikawaza na kuwazua kuhusu maisha yangu ya baadaye. Hivi leo, najivunia kutojihusisha na ulevi na walevi. Kisa na maana, kesi ambayo mawakiri hawadhubutu kujihusisha nayo ni kuendesha gari ukiwa bado mlevi. Wengi ya Wakenya niwajuao Marekani wametokomezwa kasri na tabia ya ulevi na kulewa. Wengi kutoka kazini fiu hadi eneo vilabu vya pombe. Pombe si mbaya. Sisemi una kasoro unywapo pombe. Wewe ndiye ilio na kasro. Hupimi hupumui. Huchoki huchoshwi. Hukomi hukomeshwi. Hujali hujalishwi. Kisha unaingia katika gari lako. Huoni hujitambui. Pukuru pukuru unaanza kuelekeza gari pande huu, pande ule. Mara unagonga huyu, yule na wale. Mara polisi ndio hao. Bima hawakutaki tena. Wakiri yuahitaji dolla elfu kumi akufungulie faili ajaribu bahati yake. Mwishowe unaanza sarakasi zako na askari polisi. Hapo ndipo maisha yako inapoanza kutimba chini, kuporomoko. Badala usuluhishe kwanza kesi inayokukabiri, unalewa hata zaidi. Nyumba hulipi, gari iliobondeka bondeka hulipi, stima hulipi, kazi huendi...huli ukashiba. Mmmmm! Unafurushwa uishipo. Mwishowe unaandika kwenye kijikaratasi, "Help, Am Homeless." Unakuwa hauna makao katika nchi ya ugeni? Mungu wangu weee. Kwa jamaa ya Leah Wangari Gatonye, pokeeni pole zangu kutoka pembeni mwa roho yangu. Rohowe Wangari ilazwe pema palio wema.
&mjuaji - Tell them to stop drinking silly and stupid if yo know them! Those drunkards also have a lot of other social issues which tend to affect others!
It is time for Kenyans in the US in particular to behave and stop acting childish! Stay in your own house if you start drinking to avoid causing harm to others on the road, etc!
Stop judging others and help the daughter bury or cremate and sue Beaufort Hosiptal for negligence.I wish she provided her contact number.
For those who are rushing to say sue for negligence,please remember the cause,and effect.Yeah on the face in appears that there was some negligence,but again may be not.We dont know the whole story. At least, there is contributory negligence. Dont drink and drive.
Sue the cops, jail and hospital. She may have contributed by getting behiND the wheel (one can argue that she was an alcoholic i.e an illness), but the officers and hospiatl clearly failed her. Past the fact of accident, other proffessionals failed in their duty to her. They must be called to account.
Thank God it is the US where proffesionalism is expected. The usual diaspora haters (walionyimwa visa or deported et al) wako busy trying to shame her in death. Bure kabisa! NEGLIGENCE ALL ROUND.
Her drunkness and then getting involved in an accident caused her death! Kenyans have now become sue- happy fools!
Most of you possibly knew she had alcohol drinking issues but did not even reach out to her for help! Now all of a sudden you want free money! Aishhhhh…
You are just too illiterate to understand! She is 100% responsible for getting drunk and getting in an accident. However, this does NOTE absolve the responsibility of Hospital staff and police from due diligence of treating her well after the fact. That’s why people are rushed to hospital when injured and are supposed to be treated, not taken back to prison while still bleeding from the inside you FOOL!!
Ok brainy baby tad! @ pembeni - you are worse than a foolish dog! You go drinking then cause an accident and yo will see how cops will deal with you, brainy man! People are rushed to the hospital after causing a dui accident!? Would have been nice if sh has died on the spot of accident! Stop reasons like a fucked up make donkey dick you illiterate son f a bitch! Who is your fucking mother to tad?? Glad she bled from inside after drinking herself to death! You are probably the next fool to die on roads for dui! Shut up!
&kimpembe - what a freaking goddon fake name! She was and still is 110% responsible for everything that happened to her including her own death! She neglected her children by driving under the influence to her death! How do you want me to sugar coat the whole saga! It is pure madness for everything that she did! And it will be even more maddening if you die the same way! As poor as you are, you need to sue others to make a dime for your lazy ass! Wewe masikini Kama punda!
Drunk Poor folks like you have the little brains of a rat and you act erratically because you have abandoned your personal responsibility to others - cops, doctors, etc! Stop blaming others for your damn mistakes. You really must be a total idiot! I wish I could give Dee’s 🌰 knuts to get your little head back on line! You silly mongoes!
I hope the same thing happen to your drunkard ass! We will put firewoods together and cremate your stinky dead body and send the ashes to your devil in hell! End of the story!
Woi, she made wrong choices we all agree on that but my brother and sisters pls let’s remember she a mom to someone and the kids had no choice who to be their mom .let be sensitive on those angels left behind,one day they will grow up and see this as we are aware internet never forgives 🙏
&kimpembe - what a freaking goddon fake name! She was and still is 110% responsible for everything that happened to her including her own death! She neglected her children by driving under the influence to her death! How do you want me to sugar coat the whole saga! It is pure madness for everything that she did! And it will be even more maddening if you die the same way! As poor as you are, you need to sue others to make a dime for your lazy ass! Wewe masikini Kama punda!!!
Drunk Poor folks like you have the little brains of a rat and you act erratically because you have abandoned your personal responsibility to others - cops, doctors, etc! Stop blaming others for your damn mistakes. You really must be a total idiot! I wish I could give Dee’s 🌰 knuts to get your little head back on line! You silly mongoes!
I hope the same thing happen to your drunkard ass! We will put firewoods together and cremate your stinky dead body and send the ashes to your devil in hell! End of the story!
Kimpembeni@ - you bear the whole responsibility when you drink like an asshole while probably taking meth and other substances and end up causing an accident plus your own death!
When you die like that it is just fine because you have no value for your own life! Others are not responsible or you! Cops and doctors are not not fathers! Or your granddaddy!
Don’t blame others for your own problems if your mother didn’t teach you how to act right! The world will teach you with its rough claws! You ain’t worth much shit anyway!
No one wants their money. I am sure the kids want their mother back. Bring her back drunk...after all, is she the first or last alcoholic? Stop mixing issues here. Don't drunk people pay taxes? The police serve and protect all - to include drunks. Doctors and nurses have taken oaths to preserve life...the oath, and I have read it even recited my own elsewhere, does not qualify; under certain circumstances. Probably drunk on christian kool-aid, we are busy blaming the victim. If this was a mzungu, the whole country would be up in arms. But you can always count on Kenyans to narrow mindedly be the first to judge their own. NO! THEY HAVE KILLED THIS WOMAN...BOTH HOSPITAL AND JAIL! She may have died or survived, who knows? But now she is dead for sure...why? Negligence. That other 0.5 probability of survival has been snatched from her family.
You ain’t nothing more than a social misfit in your thinking @shetinececito! How do people get this damn stupid!? No wonder the world can never get it right because of fools like you! CNAs do not take any oath! You are just told here is abcd, you go do it and don’t ask questions! Then go see the janitor on your way out of the door to pick your $10 pay for the day! It is stuffed in bright 🧧 envelope! Your contribution here does not count!