A wedding proposal nearly turned tragic when a woman swallowed an engagement ring that had been hidden in her food as a surprise.
Ms Jessica Hawayu and her family had gathered for a family party on Sunday at her home in Gongoni, Tana River County.
Unbeknownst to her, her family and Johannah Charo, her boyfriend, had planned a surprise engagement party.
The day began well, with family members preparing food, and Jessica was tasked with preparing a special dish that was her father’s favourite.
“Pilau is our father’s favourite and also her boyfriend’s. So she knew she was doing it for dad and dedicated herself to it,” said her sister, Melanie Hawayu.
Meanwhile, the boyfriend and his friends were hanging out in town, waiting for the signal from his girlfriend’s family that everything was ready.
They received a text around 2pm instructing them to begin moving towards the venue as the tables were being set.
The plan was for the woman’s mother and boyfriend to bury the engagement ring in a plate of pilau, where she would find it.
“Dad had protested the idea but since there was no better idea, we decided to take a chance with the one we had and proceeded with it,” narrated Melanie.
Jessica’s mother was in charge of serving the food and was constantly sending her daughter on errands while burying the ring in the plate.
Charo had already infiltrated the compound and was about to appear from behind the girlfriend’s seat.
The table was filled with laughter and joy as Charo tiptoed towards it, a move cut short when his girlfriend began choking on the food.
All efforts were made to save her as she ran away from the table and towards her father, who hit her on the back three times, causing her to vomit the ring.
“We did not anticipate that would happen, but dad feared it would. That was so close, it left mum crying,” said Oscar Habil, Jessica’s younger brother.
Jessica collapsed and was taken to a nearby hospital for examination.
Nonetheless, she awoke to say ‘Yes,’ with the engagement ring already on her finger, because Charo insisted on marrying her dead or alive.
“I have learned a very hard lesson, that is how we would have killed my wife. The devil is a liar,” said Charo in a phone interview with Nation.
Jessica, on the other hand, notes that even though things did not go as planned, she does not regret what the family planned because they all wanted to make her day memorable.
