Gachagua: It would have been a different story if I was late by 20 minutes

Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua accompanied by wife Dorcas address media moments after he was discharged from Karen hospital. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Ousted Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday revealed that his illness began with intense chest pain and had to be rushed to the hospital for a closer analysis of his health.

Gachagua, who was hospitalised on Thursday afternoon ahead of his cross-examination on his impeachment proceedings at the Senate, described the chronology of events that saw him rushed to Karen Hospital.

He said that he was following proceedings at the Senate throughout the morning session and they took a break after 1.00pm and together with his team of lawyers and senior officials, retreated for lunch at Harambee House Annex.

“After lunch, we went through my examination in chief and possible areas of cross-examination by the counsel for the National Assembly and by the Senators themselves. And my team took off for the Senate. I went through the office to get my notes. And when I was going to the office is when suddenly I developed very, very intense pain in the chest, I sat down and the pain continued,” he narrated yesterday after he was discharged.

Given the sharp and intense pain he felt at that point, he said that he called his doctor, Dan Gikonyo of Karen Hospital, who has been his doctor for the last 20 years, and described what he was feeling.

“He asked me about the intensity of the pain. And I told him it was very intense.  And as we were speaking, I started having shortness of breath. Dr. Gikonyo instructed me to drop everything I was doing and get here to Karen as quickly as possible,” he said.

“He told me what I described is not a good thing and I should come here. And I went down in the lift to my car and instructed my people to very speedily bring me here. By the time I was getting here, I was under a lot of pain and shortness of breath,” he added.

Impeached DP Rigathi Gachagua regretted that even in his moments of illness, unfortunate events still went on to impeach him, which denied him a fair hearing. 

On getting to the hospital, he found Dr Gikonyo and his team waiting for him and quickly examined him, out of which, he made a quick decision that he should be admitted immediately for observation and possible treatment.

“After I stabilised, he told me that had I been late for another 20 minutes, we would be telling a different story today…  They have really taken very good care of me and he would have wanted me to stay a bit longer for further observation but I requested that he allow me to go home. He thinks I'm quite stable to go home where he can look after me from home,” said Gachagua.

 Adding: “In any case, my home is not far away from here and if there is any problem, I should be able to get back here. But as we speak, I'm okay. A little bit weak, but I feel better. The intense pain has gone away. This is manageable for a man. A man must be able to withstand some of these small things. But in his assessment, I'm out of danger.

He thanked Kenyans for their prayers and apologised to those who went to the hospital but were not able to see him because the doctor said he needed rest.

“I want to thank those who took their time to come and visit me. Some millions of Kenyans who have been praying for me for my quick recovery. I will remain forever indebted to them for their concern, for their love and for wishing me quick recovery,” he said.

Gachagua regretted that even in his moments of illness, unfortunate events still went on to impeach him, which denied him a fair hearing.