The family of Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, who drowned in a swimming pool in Canada while live streaming on Facebook, was able to watch live her requiem mass thousands of kilometres away.
A requiem mass for the deceased was held in Canada on Sunday, September 4, 2022, and was streamed live on YouTube to allow her family in Kenya to watch in real-time.
It's unfair Hellen Wendy was spirited away from us
The deceased's brother Enock Nyabuto while eulogizing his sister during the requiem mass said that he felt death was so unfair to spirit away Hellen Wendy when she was so young.
"She was always a constant guiding light in my life and I always looked up to her. It's so sad and unfair that a woman with so much talent and so much integrity, a woman who had so much to give has been spirited away from us way too young," Enock said.
"She was always a bubbly person and she ended up earning a nickname smiling machine," he added.
Hellen Wendy died on August 18, 2022, in Collingwood, Ontario, after diving into the deep end of the swimming pool where she drowned after struggling to stay afloat.
Wendy’s father John Kiyondi Nyabuto said he would only find closure from his daughter’s tragic death when her body is repatriated back to Kenya for burial.
“According to our tradition, one is supposed to be buried where he or she was born. I’ll not feel comfortable, psychologically, if my daughter is buried away from Kenya,” the 56-year-old said.
The deceased's brother Enock Nyabuto started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help with her burial costs.
