Mother forced to be prisoner in own home following son's mental illness, appeals for help

When Mtaa Wangu arrived at her humble home in Poshomill area,near Whitehouse, Margret Wangari, 50, had locked herself inside the house, in fear of being attacked by her son.

She recounts how her fifth born, Patrick Gunyi, turned against her moments after requesting her to buy him chips (French Fries) at a nearby shop.

On the fateful morning of October 24, Wangari says that Gunyi handed her a container and Sh 70 to purchase the chips. However before she left, he called her back and added her Sh 10 to get him a passion fruit.

 “I tried to convince him it was too early to get a place that had chips. But he chased me away and tossed sh 10 on the ground. As I bent to collect the money I was struck from behind, and fell to the ground. Unknown to me, my son was armed with a stick and before I could assess the situation, he hit me on the head,” she recalls.

The mother of five says she screamed for help attracting neighbors who rushed to her compound. By this time her face was covered by blood.

Her neighbors who responded in numbers contained his son and she was rushed to a private hospital a few Kilometers from her house.

“At the hospital, I was stitched on my forehead, chin and cheek where I had sustained injuries. Additionally, the doctors recommended a CT -Scan to check the extent of my injuries. While at the hospital we managed to raise sh 4,000 which we used to pay for the medication. However, we could not raise enough money to cover the scan which cost sh 8,000,” she explains.

She says she was discharged in the evening and doctors insisted she should raise the money and get the scan done. Five days on she is yet to get it.

According to Wangari, her son has been showing signs of mental illness since he completed his high school in 2021.

Gradually he started saying he did not want to go to work and would only want to stay at home and read the bible.

His situation worsened and he was taken to Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital where he was admitted at the facility on three occasions.  

“At the hospital in 2022, he admitted that he had been abusing bhang and life has never been the same since then. Consecutives years, he has been having episodes where he is calm and sometimes enraged. These years he has attacked me with his fecal matter, sometimes urine or stone me,” she says amid tears.

For now, she is forced to avoid her son at all cost, locking herself inside her house whenever her husband is away.

She went on to express fear for her life, noting that her son has threatened her on several occasions.

“Other than life threats, he has constantly been damaging household items, including utensils and electronics. More to it, he burns our clothes or throws them in a pit latrine wherever we hang them after laundry,” she says emotionally.

Despite everything Wangari overwhelmingly takes care of her 24-year-old son. She says whenever she cooks, she calls him to pick his food through the window.

“He always locks himself in his house and can only come to eat when I call him. I am always afraid he can harm himself while alone,” she says. 

The mother of five now appeals to the county government, mental institutions and well-wishers to come to her aid and offer help to her son.

“My prayer is that one day my son will be okay. This can only happen if he gets help. I sincerely love him and wish him the best as a mother,” she says.

Gunyi’s elder sister, Anne Wangeshi, says how her family’s struggles since her brother became unwell, especially after his last episode where he attacked their mother.

“Our mother is aging and she is now defenseless around him. As a family we cannot afford the cost to get him to a rehabilitation centre.

We have tried prayers, hospitals but nothing has changed so far. We are now appealing for well-wishers to help us so that our mother can live in peace,” she notes.