A young Kenyan woman fighting for her life in a Tirana hospital after mysteriously plunging from the second floor of an apartment requires treatment abroad, leaving her mother to appeal for funds to move her desperately.
Joy, a 22-year-old woman from Kenya, was recruited to work for a Tirana-based casino. On 13 August, she disappeared, reportedly between 3:25 am and 7am, before being found in a deserted building behind her bedroom window a day later. She had fallen from a significant height and was suffering from multiple injuries.
“The doctors said she had three broken ribs, both pelvic bones broken..comatose due to lack of oxygen..injuries in hand..back..stomach, amongst others,” her mother Ruth told Exit, adding, “we still don’t know what happened to Joy.”
Now, Joy is comatose and fed through a tube, although she is now breathing independently. However, the young woman needs intensive care at a rehabilitation center which is not available in Albania
“She needs Private Physiotherapy, which we are paying for through fundraising. In the future, Joy needs a non-trauma neurological rehabilitation centre. This is not available in Albania, so we have to find another hospital,” Ruth added.
Her mother flew from Kenya shortly after her daughter was hospitalised. She is living in the Trauma Hospital to take care of Joy, including feeding her, changing her and giving her medicine, some of which she has to buy herself.
Aside from campaigning for funds to move Joy abroad, Ruth also wants volunteers to sit with her daughter so she can shower and change, as she cannot leave her daughter’s side.
As for what happened to Joy, the police have reached a dead end and say they have no idea what happened to her and the prosecutor is now dealing with it.
“I found the police not helpful..there was little info. They said the case was with the prosecutor, and I needed a lawyer. I have found an NGO lawyer that is helping,” Ruth said.
On Saturday, a fundraising piano concert will be held at the Rogner Hotel to raise money to help Joy. Pianist Elham Peyman will be playing between 11-12.
Susie Linda, a woman living in Albania who has been helping Joy and Ruth, also called for volunteers to go and sit with Joy, allowing her mother a much-needed break.
“Joy has come a long way, I was told she was going to die and that she would never come off the oxygen, but she has, and there is hope for her. We want to get her to a hospital either in Kenya or Europe where she can get the help she needs. We need help to do this,” she told Exit.
