A health care worker drowned in a pool during a Facebook livestream last week — to the horror of her family and friends in Kenya.
Hellen Nyabuto, 24, died while swimming in a motel pool in Chatsworth, Ontario Thursday, according to the Toronto Star.
Nyabuto was livestreaming the fatal incident and was seen smiling, swimming and talking to online viewers from the shallow end of the pool, according to the newspaper.
After moving to the deep end, she appeared to be struggling and could be heard calling for help after moving outside of the stream’s frame.
The feed then went quiet for hours until other motel-goers were seen getting into the pool and discovering Nyabuto’s lifeless body, the article said. The livestream had since been removed from Facebook.
Nyabuto moved to Canada in 2018 and was working at a long-term care residence in the northwestern Toronto suburbs, according to the outlet.
“Hellen was the breadwinner back home for her family. She’s been supporting them and it’s left a big gap,” Alfonce Nyamwaya, Nyabuto’s close friend, reportedly said.
“She worked with seniors right until the end,” she added. “She really had a passion for that.”
Nyabuto had not returned to her homeland since moving abroad, and loved ones were trying to raise enough money to bring her body back home while making plans to come to Toronto, Nyamwaya reportedly said.
“We need prayers. We need financial support.”
The friend and former college classmate also told the paper Nyamwaya’s family wanted to dispel rumors spreading in Kenya that her death was the result of foul play.
“Let the family mourn in peace. Let Hellen rest. It was an accident.”
