Baringo death trap: Woman loses nearly all to lake

Crocodiles swim close to women preparing fish on the edge of Lake Baringo in Kampi ya Samaki. [AP]

"I saw her dying, leaving me behind," he said.

He thought of their daughter, barely six months old, and their two other children.

Not knowing what else to do, he started screaming for help. Another man ran over with a machete and struck at the crocodile, Laban said, and suddenly, it swam away, leaving Winnie's limp body behind.

Her leg was nothing but bones with hanging flesh, said Laban, who along with local residents carried Winnie past flooded roads to the nearest paved one where vehicles could get her to medical care. But at the hospital in the next town, doctors said they were not equipped to treat such a severe injury.

Two hospitals later, she feared she would not survive.

"I told my husband to pick up my children and to take them to my mum, as I knew I was not going to make it," she said.

Doctors ended up amputating the leg to save her life. Her mom stayed by her bedside until she was discharged from the hospital.

The family was forced to sell their chickens, and goats to cover her medical costs.

But while she was healing, an incessant rain continued to fall. The lake took still more from the Kebens. It flooded their home and farmland.

They left their community, the final loss.

A resident from another village, Meisori, learned of their ordeal and offered to take them in, a gesture of kindness for which she is grateful.

But leaving Kampi ya Samaki, where her husband and children were born, still hurts.

Winnie Keben has her hair combed by her husband Laban at their home in Meisori village in Baringo County. [AP]

It's not rare now to see village children scarred by sharp teeth marks.

Others, like Keben, have lost limbs, and an unknown number have died.

A 10-year-old boy was recently dragged off by a hippo and has not been found.

Keben said she doesn't plan to ever return to Kampi ya Samaki. Though she longs for the community.

"That is the place I called home," she said, her voice still filled with pain.