- Dr Menach says they are working hard to stabilize the athlete.
- “She is a high-profile patient and we are doing all we can to save her life,” Dr Menach said.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital says Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei is in critical condition after she sustained more than 80 per cent burns during an attack in Trans Nzoia.
Hospital acting CEO Dr Owen Menach says the patient sustained both external and inhalation burns and that she is under critical care at the hospital ICU.
Dr Menach says they are working hard to stabilize the athlete.
“She is a high-profile patient and we are doing all we can to save her life,” Dr Menach said.
He said the alleged boyfriend was also admitted to the same ICU with about 30 per cent burns and in better condition.
Dr Menach spoke at the hospital where he was with the father of the athlete Joseph Cheptegei and her sister Evalyne Chelagat.
Mzee Cheptegiei clarified that the two were just friends for some time.
He claimed they had been quarrelling over her land at Endebes in Trans Nzoia where the attack occurred.
“They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take away things belonging to my daughter,” Mzee Cheptegei stated.
Mzee Joseph Cheptegei is pleading for justice for his daughter Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei who is in critical condition after she sustained more than 80 percent burns during an attack in Trans Nzoia. https://shorturl.at/hTXxj
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
He said the athlete has two children whose father is a different person living in Uganda.
The father said the two had a case which was being investigated by the DCI.
Mzee Cheptegei said the two had separated for long but on Sunday the man sneaked into the home where he staged the attack.
Chelagat broke down outside the ICU as she explained the condition of her sister.
Cheptegei participated in 10,000m race at the recent Paris Olympics.
She was critically injured in the attack at her house at Kinyoro in Endebes Trans Nzoia county on Monday morning.
Police said she was attacked by her alleged boyfriend who doused her with petrol and set her on fire
“The man was also caught in the same fire and sustained serious burns,” said Trans Nzoia police commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom.
He said investigations established that the two had been frequently quarrelling over a plot and a house.
On Sunday the man is said to have sneaked into the home with a five-litre jerrican full of petrol.
Cheptegei had gone to church with their children and when she returned the man poured the petrol on her and lit fire.
Neighbours had a commotion and rescued the two who were rushed to hospital in critical condition.