He lost his son to epilepsy , now he must prove he’s the father to bury him

For eight years, Maurice Atieno cared for his son Alvin Otieno alone after his wife died. Never did he think a time would come when he would need a court affidavit to prove his parenthood to the government.

However, that is now the case as his son’s body lies at the Nakuru County Teaching and Referral mortuary (PGH Mortuary) since July 7, 2025.

Maurice tells Mtaa Wangu how he is torn between grieving his 15-year-old child and proving he is his father in order to be allowed to lay him to rest.

“This is the lowest I have ever been in my life. The morgue cannot release my son’s body to me until I get a court affidavit and all the necessary documentation, like his birth certificate, to show he is mine,” he says, revealing that Alvin died without his knowledge.

Recalling the last time he saw his son, it was Sunday morning, June 29, 2025, before Maurice left their home in Pangani to run errands. At the time, Alvin was getting ready to go to church. That was the last time he saw him.

“When I came back home that evening, I asked his elder sister where Alvin was, and she said he had left in the morning and hadn’t come back. She added that she had looked for him in all the neighbors’ homes but hadn’t found him,” he says, noting that a search party ensued.

Maurice says he initially thought it was like other times, as Alvin had a habit of going missing. People would often call him after finding Alvin wandering, unable to explain his way back home.

He explains that his son was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2017, when he was in Class Two, shortly after his mother passed on. From time to time, Alvin would go missing, but since he knew his father’s contact, he would share it, and people would help him get home.

Sadly, the June 29 case turned out differently. The father of two says he never received any calls, which made him even more anxious.

On the second day of Alvin’s disappearance, he reported a missing person case at Bondeni Police Station. Meanwhile, he continued his search.

“It was only after an interview on one of the digital platforms I did on July 7 where Alvin’s photo and my contact were displayed, that I started receiving calls from people pointing me to areas where they had seen someone matching Alvin’s description. Other people called about missing children, but the photos they shared were not of Alvin,” he says amid tears.

However, on July 18, he received a call from someone who said they had seen Alvin in Free Area. The caller noted that they had found Alvin on July 2. He had fallen, hit his head, and bitten his tongue badly.

Instantly, Maurice knew why he had not heard from his son, Alvin had no way to speak and share his father’s contact or identify himself.

“The caller said they had cared for Alvin at a dispensary in Free Area, but he was later referred to PGH for further treatment. That same day, I rushed to PGH, where I had a hard time finding him because neither his name nor a child of his age was in the system,” he shares.

Maurice was advised to check the unidentified persons list. It contained individuals aged 42, 30, and 17 none matching his son's age.

However, after further consultation at the registry, he found that Alvin had been recorded as an unknown 17-year-old boy.

“It was here that I learned Alvin was brought in on July 2 and passed away on July 7 while receiving treatment. All that time I was still searching for him, and he had been in the morgue for nearly two weeks. Because of his injury, it was a bit hard identifying him from his face. However, I was able to identify him from his thumbnail, which grew differently after he had an epileptic episode and injured his finger,” he shares.

Despite the heartbreaking events, Maurice says he has to be strong for himself and his older daughter, who has yet to come to terms with her brother’s death. She still thinks she will come back from school and find her brother at home.

“My daughter says her brother has always been strong, and just like in the past when he went missing and was found, she is still waiting for him to come back,” he says, before taking a long pause.

Maurice is now pleading with well-wishers to help him raise money to clear both the hospital and morgue bills which he notes he is not aware of until he has proved he is the father of the child.

Until he is able to fully prove he is Alvin’s father, the bill continues to pile up.

He has already secured a court affidavit, and now he is working on presenting the other necessary documents to the hospital in hopes they will release his son’s body for burial and avoid further accumulation of charges.

He notes that all he knows of the bill from the death notification document he was given at the mortuary is that there is a Sh 500 daily charge at the mortuary which then ups to sh 700 after five days and a sh 1500 standing fee. He says he might get an upwards of sh 8,000 just on the morgue fee.

“Alvin was a bubbly son and a loving brother to his sister. I am appealing to anyone who can help me raise money to get him home for a proper burial. I am a tailor, and I cannot raise enough money to pay the bill and get my child,” he says, in an emotional appeal to well-wishers.