A family in Kimilili, Bungoma County, is seeking help after their child was left with a broken cannula tip lodged deep inside the neck following treatment at Kory Family Hospital.

The family claims the hospital failed to detect the foreign object when complications developed and later referred the child to another facility without providing the logistical support they say was needed during the emergency.

According to the parent’s complaint, the child was admitted at Kory Family Hospital in Kimilili Sub County when a section of a cannula broke off and remained inside the child’s neck. The family says the situation became more serious when complications developed, prompting the hospital’s medical team to use its diagnostic equipment in an attempt to establish what was wrong.

The parent says that despite the hospital carrying out diagnostic examinations, the broken cannula tip was not detected, leaving the foreign object inside the child while the family continued to deal with the complications.

Instead of locating the object, the family says Kory Family Hospital referred the child to Shoe for Africa Children’s Hospital, where a further examination revealed what had been missed at the first facility.

The parent says an ultrasound conducted at the referral hospital immediately located the cannula tip embedded deep within the muscles of the child’s neck, bringing to light the extent of the alleged medical failure.

The family’s complaint states:

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the shocking medical negligence and absolute lack of professional support my child experienced while admitted at Kory Family Hospital in Kimilili Sub-County, Bungoma County. During my child’s admission at Kory Hospital, a cannula tip was severed and left inside my child’s neck. When complications arose, your medical team utilized your diagnostic machines but failed to detect the foreign object. Instead of taking immediate accountability or conducting further investigative procedures, Dr. Susan Murumba owned Kory Hospital simply referred us to the Shoe for Africa Children’s Hospital. Compounding this medical failure, Kory Hospital offered absolutely no assistance, logistics, or support in transferring my child to the referral facility. We were left entirely on our own during a critical, life-threatening medical emergency caused directly by your staff. Upon arrival at Shoe for Africa Children’s Hospital, an ultrasound was performed, which immediately located the cannula tip embedded deep within the muscles of my child’s neck. The actions of Kory Hospital represent an unprecedented level of gross medical negligence and a complete failure in patient care and diagnostic competence. Leaving a dangerous foreign object inside an infant’s neck and failing to detect it—or assist the family during a referral—is completely unacceptable.

The family says the referral hospital’s ultrasound examination finally established that the cannula tip had remained inside the child's neck, embedded deep within the surrounding muscles.

The parent is now appealing for assistance to have the matter addressed and the child receive the necessary medical intervention, while also seeking answers over how a broken cannula tip could remain inside the child and go undetected during the initial medical assessment.

How did a cannula tip end up lodged inside a child's neck, why was it missed during the initial investigations, and why was the family left to find their own way to a referral hospital while the foreign object remained inside their child?