A Kenyan student passed away on Tuesday during a swimming excursion in Australia.
The family of Sharon Jepkosgei Kigen who drowned during a swimming activity in Australia is now seeking financial assistance to repatriate her body back home for burial.
Kigen arrived in Australia in November 2022 and was studying at Australian Catholic University-North Sydney when the tragic incident occurred.
According to reports, she drowned in Georges River in Sydney’s south-west on Tuesday, February 21 afternoon while swimming with friends.
“Officers from The Traffic and Highway Patrol entered the water along with members of the public and commenced to search the water where the woman was located and brought to the shoreline,” New South Wales (NSW) Police said.
A video shared online showed efforts by emergency services to revive her, which did not bear fruits as she had already passed.
In the wake of her death, Jepkosgei’s family and friends have began fundraising for the repatriation of her body to Kenya.
Jepkosgei’s family is appealing to well-wishers to donate generously to help bring their daughter’s body back home for a proper burial.
The bereaved family has since set up a GoFundMe page to raise money, with the goal of raising Sh2.5 million (AUD$20,000) to allow for her body to be returned to Kenya.
This is the second instance of a Kenyan drowning abroad in less than six months.
In August, a healthcare worker, Hellen Nyabuto, drowned in a pool in Canada while recording a Facebook livestream, to the horror of friends and family.
Nyabuto was seen in the video conversing with spectators at the shallow end of the pool before swimming into the deep end.
The 24-year-old was buried in October at her parents’ home in Getare-Misesi village, Kisii County.
