Brutal twist as woman forced to bury cousin on Facebook live
A woman forced to watch the burial of her cousin on Facebook Live was dealt a second brutal blow when her internet connection cut out.
BBC journalist Mercy Juma said her cousin Chris, who was like a brother to her, could only have 15 people at his funeral in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 15, due to the coronavirus.
Chris died from liver cirrhosis on Easter Sunday.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 1,161 people in Kenya have COVID-19 and 50 people have died. The country, and most of East Africa, is also struggling with plagues of locusts.
As Chris’ family were mostly forced into lockdown, not everyone could attend his funeral.
Juma was among those who had to watch Chris’ burial via Facebook.
In an article she wrote for the BBC, she said “in digital solace” people remembered her cousin and wrote comments during his funeral.
“Everything felt so different. We could not hug, touch or see each other's tears,” she wrote.
Sadly, due to a poor internet connection, Juma couldn’t watch the entire ceremony.
“So I could not even watch Chris' final journey to the very end,” she wrote.
Chris also played drums in a marching band, but Juma said at his funeral they were unable to play his favourite songs.
“Unbelievable! What a brutal time to die Chris?” Juma tweeted.
“Your burial, the complete opposite of the person you were, the life you lived.
She added “thousands of us would have been there”.
“We are broken, shattered,” Juma tweeted.
“You fought well bro. When all this ends, when the sun shines again, we will dance and sing for you, for days on end like we would have done today.
“We will mourn you, like we should.”
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