Exclusive:
Titus Gatuthu Kabûrû Theuri, 82, from Borehamwood, had travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for an emergency family issue when he suddenly became ill and was admitted to hospital on 29 August
A grieving son claims his “dad’s body is being held ransom in a mortuary” overseas after a hospital refused to release his remains for a funeral – unless they stump up £45,000.
Titus Gatuthu Kabûrû Theuri, 82, from Borehamwood, had travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for an emergency family issue when he suddenly became ill and was admitted to hospital on 29 August.
The former civil servant spent two months in intensive care at the Metropolitan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, after suffering from septic pneumonia. However, he tragically passed away on October 24. The total bill of treating Mr Theuri, who didn’t have health insurance, came to a staggering £45,000 with the hospital demanding the fee even while he was in intensive care. According to his heartbroken son Kaz Theuri, the hospital finance department called Titus’ distraught wife “several times a day” seeking the money.
The family has so far managed to pay £14,000 of the medical bill and pleaded with the hospital to release Titus’ body so they could have a funeral in Kenya. However, they say the Metropolitan Hospital has rejected multiple payment plans for the past few months. Each time a breakthrough was seemingly near, the hospital backtracked on their original agreement, Kaz claimed. In the meantime, the heartbroken family have been living with the grief that their dad’s body has been left in a in a mortuary for months until they pay up.
Kaz told The Mirror: “The hospital makes me feel like they care more about their income than their patient care. The hospital’s accounts and finance department are totally unprofessional and would call my mother several times a day demanding for immediate payments, whilst my father was in ICU.
“The department has never provided any form of payment-plan nor any help whatsoever in counselling, grief support or any other type of help in kind. They totally lack empathy, morals and humanity. The department disregards the immediate family’s needs and feelings at a time when there is a great loss and a sudden unexpected bereavement.”
Kaz labelled the hospital’s finance department’s treatment of the family as “rude, crass and demonic”. He alleges the hospital is using his “dads remains as ransom” until they get their payment, which they cannot afford to pay upfront.
“This total experience has shown that Metropolitan Hospital is using my father’s remains as ransom because without a burial permit”, Kaz said. “We do not subsequently have closure in our mourning; we do not even have a death certificate as a burial permit is needed and thus we are at the whim and mercy of an extremely cold hearted institution.”
The experience has also affected Kaz’s mum, who has not only lost her husband of over 50 years, but hasn’t been able to give Titus a funeral. Kaz said the ordeal has taken its toll on the widow who has “stopped eating regularly and only sleeps for two hours a day” due to the agonising stress.
Kaz revealed: “My mother suffers from three different, and severe, medical ailments which are exacerbated by stress. The hospital knows this, since October 2024, and yet they have completely disregarded her welfare and have therefore massively increased her stress levels. Since October 2024, mum stopped eating regularly and sleeps for only two hours per day.
“Due to my concern, I have had to move into her home so that I can ensure that her welfare is in order. Mum is therefore suffering from, grief and loss of her husband of over 50 years; stress from Metropolitan Hospital’s cruelty; indignity of not burying her husband; constant thoughts of her husband abandoned in the mortuary unattended and uncared for.”
Kaz has been in contact with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, his local Sir MP Oliver Dowden, his lawyer, and the Kenya High Commission to try and find a solution. The family has a representative in Kenya who has been in contact with the hospital to try and come to an agreement.
Just last week, the family thought they made a breakthrough after agreeing a payment plan, but claimed the hospital then demanded more money than agreed. However, on December 9, an agreement was in place for the burial permit following a deal with the hospital and the family’s lawyer. Despite this promising step, the family are yet to receive the contract or agreement in writing. The Mirror has approached the hospital for comment but had no response.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said they are working with the family to help come to a solution: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Kenya.”
Kaz has set-up a GoFundMe to try and raise the rest of the funds to help bury his dad in Kenya next year. “My father had always wished to be buried in Kenya so we would like to honour his wish”, he said.