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‘I Have Cried A Lot In Private’, Joyce Laboso’s Husband Opens Up On Life After Losing Her

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His stoic speech at Nairobi Hospital on July 29 to announce the death of his wife, Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso, caught many by surprise.

It was only hours after doctors had switched off life support machines on Laboso but Edwin Abonyo hardly betrayed any emotion.

The man who had spent decades working behind the scenes would during the period before his wife’s burial to worm his way into the hearts of many by his dignity in the loss.

Laboso succumbed to cancer after along treatment both in Nairobi, the United Kingdom and India.

Exactly three months on today, the father of Ted, Brian, Marco and Mina told the Star in an exclusive interview that he has been living in hell since his wife’s demise.

Abonyo said his family is still struggling to come to terms with the loss.

Describing a difficult phase of his life strength and humour, Abonyo told the Star that though he appear the strongest when the grief was fresh, he was the most affected of his family.

Abonyo said watching his wife endure the pain and see life slowly ebb away from her body sapped strength out of him, leaving a gaping hole in his heart.

“I have cried a lot in private. Whenever I step in our house, our room, in particular, the emotions come fresh. I remember everything and the memories kill me,” Abonyo said.

At some point, his eldest son Brian and his foster daughter walked in to join the conversation with the Star.

“June and July were the hardest as her situation got worse. Organ failures, swelling of the leg, her inability to walk and being bedridden went in quick succession,” Brian said.

Even more excruciating, he said, was watching her choke in pain with intravenous tubes all over her as the aggressive tumour grew, undeterred by the rigorous chemo and radiotherapies.

Even more gut-wrenching, Abonyo added, was the fact that he knew hi

s wife had a slim chance of making it “as science records very few treatment success rates for second-time relapse of cancer.”

“In fact, at some point, I told the doctors not to actively resuscitate her as the pain became overbearing and her chances were growing negligible. I did the same for my mother, mother in law,” he added.

Abonyo said that he has not re-arranged the house and even the wardrobes in his city, Sotik and Fort Ternan homes.

In fact, there is still a picture of the former governor, a condolence book and four reddish candles sitting on a small table at the entrance corridor leading to his living room, depicting a mourning mood in the Kilimani, Nairobi home.

Even at Fort Ternan home, they put fresh flowers every time they travel back, which is every weekend, he said.

Abonyo said when Laboso’s cancer recurred, he was a fearful man, knowing that her survival chances were rapidly dwindling.

“When my wife first got diagnosed in the early 90s at Nairobi Hospital, I stopped all I was doing and drove to Nyalenda in Kisumu where my parents were living to cry at their feet,” he said.  “I told them Joyce was dying.”

Though Laboso survived this, he relived the experience when Laboso gave him a call from the US that she had been rediagnosed with it, only that this time, he did not run to cry to his parents.

Abonyo and his son Brian Ochieng’ said Laboso’s relapse was detected at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in the US when she went there on an official trip, sourcing for medical equipment and areas of partnership for her Bomet administration.

“She then just decided to take advantage of the trip to the facility to check herself. She was not feeling any pain at the time but I had observed she would complain of being tied frequently while here,” Abonyo said.

“When I got that call, I was devastated. I told her to wind up her trip and travel home so we start treatment,” he said

As his wife received care from medics, he would feel a part of him was waste away.

“I had been away for 15 years and I thought coming back would allow me to be with mum and the family for a good time. This was not to be. It’s been a tearful period,” Brian said.

After the burial, Brian said, he remained at their For Ternan home for two weeks after everybody had returned to the city, an experience which left him lonely, only accompanied his mother’s grave.

“Every time I would see the grave, I would be broken. But we have tried to smart out of it because we are not the first to be bereaved,” he said.

For Mina, entering her parent’s room and seeing the belongings of the former governor brings back the pain afresh.

“It has been a traumatic experience. All of us lost weight and I, in fact, got white hair,” Mina, who served the governor as her private secretary in all her public life, said.

Sh2 million bill 

Abonyo said while he tried to clear all the hospital bills with the help of the state and friends, it is not yet done.

He said with his son Brian, they were recently surprised to receive communication from the London hospital demanding Sh2 million arrears.

“Together with my son, we cleared with the hospital, so we were surprised to have the bill,” he said.

“I however told them that we actually lost the patient, and since then they went silent. So we don’t know whether they will pursue it or let it slide,” added.

Expressing his profuse gratitude to friends who helped, Abonyo said, however, that not all the platitudes at his wife’s funeral were truthful.

“Politicians are notorious liars. In fact, when we heard what they would say, we sometimes just retreated with Brian to laugh,” he said.

“But [President] Uhuru is a good man,” he added.

“The state must be well appreciated. It afforded us much help. Joyce also had numerous friends who were loyal, genuine and true,” he added.

Among the friends he mentioned were Nairobi speaker Beatrice Elachi who, he said, visited them in London and spent nights with the governor at Nairobi Hospital.

CAS Rachel Shebesh, governors Anne Waiguru and Charity Ngilu, he said, also proved genuine friends.

Asked whether his new appointment to the state parastatals oversight board was a move by the President to wipe his tears, he said; “If it is so, I’m grateful. If not so, I’m even more grateful.”

Bomet vision

Regarding the administration of Bomet county, Abonyo said he hopes the current Governor Hillary Barchok fulfils the manifesto and vision of his wife “because he would not be there anyway were it not for my wife.”

He said Governor Barchok rode to power on the strength of his wife and that it was the vision of Laboso which would have sustained the county for the next three years.

“All the officials in the administration were put there by Joyce, and she put them there on merit. So I hope they fulfil the vision that gave them jobs for the betterment of the people of Bomet county,” he said.

Of priority, he said, would be the completion of the Mother and Child Care hospital which was at the heart of Laboso, even on her death bed.

“She even told the President and his deputy about it. She wanted this to succeed and even as a private citizen, I would do something to help it,” he added.

Abonyo said though his wife was the face known publicly, he helped put together Joyce and her sister Lorna’s campaign secretariats and the policies.

“Power did not get into our heads. One thing I resolved is to love my wife and support her, as we are partners,” he said.

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