Kenyan Woman Dies in Hospital After DUI Crash in South Carolina

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.  

jjlk
 

Comments

Naomi (not verified)     Tue, 08/17/2021 @ 01:07am

In reply to by MsonoBari (not verified)

@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.

Maundu (not verified)     Tue, 08/17/2021 @ 04:11pm

In reply to by Naomi (not verified)

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???

JustMe (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 02:10am

In reply to by Jo (not verified)

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.

Kibet (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 07:15am

In reply to by Jo (not verified)

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!

Mundumugo (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 02:12pm

In reply to by Kibet (not verified)

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.

KenyanMe18 (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 01:26pm

In reply to by Jo (not verified)

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?

Gatheca (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 07:55pm

In reply to by KenyanMe18 (not verified)

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.

Mary (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 11:04pm

In reply to by Migwi (not verified)

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.

KenyanMe18 (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 01:29pm

In reply to by Mary (not verified)

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.

Josh (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 08:23pm

In reply to by Mary (not verified)

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??

Catherine omolo (not verified)     Wed, 08/18/2021 @ 06:26pm

In reply to by Josh (not verified)

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.

Josh (not verified)     Thu, 08/19/2021 @ 05:10pm

In reply to by Catherine omolo (not verified)

@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!!

Oduor (not verified)     Thu, 08/19/2021 @ 11:20pm

In reply to by Catherine omolo (not verified)

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!

MOHANDAS (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 03:18am

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.

Mkenya halisi (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 05:49am

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

Murimi (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 07:48pm

In reply to by Mkenya halisi (not verified)

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??

Ukweli (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 06:50am

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

GuestC (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 08:00am

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

Rotten (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 10:29am

Don't forget also diaspora churches are all full of worst hypocrites do all sins except not drinking alcoholMany choose to gather on

MjuAji (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 10:37am

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.

Andrea (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 08:21pm

In reply to by MjuAji (not verified)

&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!

Kiurire (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 10:52am

Stop judging others and help the daughter bury or cremate and sue Beaufort Hosiptal for negligence.I wish she provided her contact number.

maxiley (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 12:56pm

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.

Seneca (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 02:45pm

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.

Nzau (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 07:52pm

In reply to by Seneca (not verified)

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…

Kimpembe (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 09:17am

In reply to by Nzau (not verified)

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!!

Kelly (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 03:49pm

In reply to by Kimpembe (not verified)

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!

Nzau (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 04:05pm

In reply to by Kimpembe (not verified)

&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!

Sue (not verified)     Tue, 08/17/2021 @ 12:44pm

In reply to by Nzau (not verified)

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 🙏

Nzau (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 04:09pm

In reply to by Kimpembe (not verified)

&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!

Jannet (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 04:16pm

In reply to by Kimpembe (not verified)

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!

Seneca (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 05:06pm

In reply to by Nzau (not verified)

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.

Jacinuta (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 11:33pm

In reply to by Seneca (not verified)

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!

Jasiri (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 04:25pm

Alcoholism is a disease. She was sick. No need to judge her especially post humous. Seems she wasn’t in pain and had no external injuries. Most likely her friends never advised her especially against driving drunk with kids on board. Most Africans in the diaspora don’t like teetotalers.

Mwangi (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 07:24pm

Huyu aliacha johi ya shagaa, johi ya muto, busaa, munishine, etc in Kenya to come to America to drink mashisha and start acting crazy! What has beholden our Kenyan women in America?

Gatheca (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 08:18pm

In reply to by Mynameis (not verified)

It seems women can’t hold the liquor down and they start acting up causing accidents and deaths! Drink responsibly at your own house or at a safe location! Stay clear from driving if yo know yo have been drinking! There more women drunkard than men!

Raelf (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 08:02pm

Everything done in excess by a human being can become an illness! Don’t you get your belly bloated when you eat too much meat?

She failed herself in every way - her own young daughter knew the mother had a drinking problem! Herself says she had a drinking problem! Now don’t tell me that if you know you got a problem, you then will go and do that same thing which causes you problems!

I’m quite sympathetic to the kids but I don’t feel sorry for her! The wages of doing unorthodox things is simply death!

Justin (not verified)     Sun, 08/15/2021 @ 08:07pm

This is just a wake up call to a lot of drunkard Kenyans in America! Kenyans love that crazy booze and many have died as a result of it! If you push a sealed envelope , it will burst somehow! Many of you need to sober up and stay off the wheel steering when you are inebriated with alcohol and the other crap that you take - meth, dope, etc!

You are killing innocent people to include children!!

Another Sue (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 01:54pm

Harsh comments in times of death and moaning is really uncalled for 😑😞 , who are you really quarreling ? Depression , stress , anxiety , life hardships and other mental health disease lead people to seek alcohol, drugs and other things as a coping mechanism and it is not always because they love the life of a party . But unfortunately some people cannot “Just snap out of it “
Not everyone is build with the same will power to overcome life tribulations .Kindly spare the Matusi on behalf of the family especially the children who are young , innocent and now orphans . Have some empathy , think of your own kids( if you have any or your siblings children) ever reading anything nasty about you on social media . You can portray your messages with kind words and not ignorant ones . May she RIP Amen 🙏🏾

Mkenya halisi (not verified)     Mon, 08/16/2021 @ 07:12pm

@Another Sue it doesn’t matter who reads this so called nasty comments??Its that’s simple try yr best to leave a beta life,yes u may make mistake on the way but keep trying yr best especially when yr kids tells you to stop Some behaviour u should listen,seek medical practitioners if you must?If this lady meet u on the free way driving when intoxicated n hit u u n die or u become disabled without legs or hands seems u will b praising n thanking God about the accident??Alinjiletea kifo n no hard feelings.I had many freds in Boston who use to drink n drink n they will get tickets/licences revocked but not even one visited sychologist for help.So mtu akijiletea kifo aende zake.Period

Glory (not verified)     Wed, 08/18/2021 @ 04:13am

If a white woman made the exact same mistakes she did, the white woman would still be alive. All those Kenyans trashing her memory and saying the hospital and jail committed no mistake have never probably stepped out of the country and experienced racism first hand. Once she was booked, it was the responsibility of the system to ensure she gets appropriate medical attention before charges are preferred against her. The quick clearance by the hospital staff in spite of the obvious internal injuries was because she is black. Black people in the US are less likely to be taken seriously when in pain, probably because of the lasting consequences of dehumanisation during slavery.

Her family should lawyer up and sue. Not excusing her poor choices in life. Just emphasising that a white woman making the same mistakes would have been treated properly by the hospital, and that should be the standard for everyone.

Jua Kali (not verified)     Wed, 08/18/2021 @ 04:43pm

We black people should stop complaining about racism. Just look at the Indians in kenya - they have their own clinics and hospitals like aga khan hospital and so on. Also you hardly see white people at kenyatta national hospital waiting to be treated. The truth is that we need to invest in our own hospitals clinics and businesses instead of relying on other races... otherwise we will continue having this same issues 100 years from now. Wake up people!! Ask yourselves this - if she was in Kenya would she have received world class treatment? How many kenyans are dying in Nairobi from accidents without even seeing a doctor.

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