Editor's Review

She wrote a suicide note informing her relatives of where she was and what she was about to do, prior to taking her life.


A post-graduate medical student at the University of Nairobi took her own life after she injected herself with anesthesia inducing medicine while inside her car.

The tragic incident is reported to have occurred on the afternoon of June 12, 2021, at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) parking lot.

Dr. Lydia Wahura Kanyoro, 35, who was a postgraduate student in Paediatrics at the UoN’s School of Medicine in KNH is said to have taken her own life out of depression. Her death has since highlighted the growing concern of depression among medical students and practitioners.


She wrote a suicide note informing her relatives of where she was and what she was about to do, prior to taking her life.

George Onyango, the head of security at the school of medicine, stated that he saw her lifeless body at the back seat of her car at around 1pm June 12.

She was identified immediately and the matter was reported to Capitol Hill Police Station.

Police officers who responded to the scene retrieved three syringes, a vial (small glass) of Ketamine, a drug used in inducing anesthesia, and midazolam drugs.

"She was lying in the back seat and had injected a syringe on her left arm. Also found inside the car were vials of Ketamine and midazolam drugs,” police said.

According to Kilimani police Commander Andrew Muturi , the drugs have been forwarded to the Government Chemist for analysis.

“We are also in possession of a printed suicide note believed to have been authored by the deceased which will also be subjected to analysis to establish if it was indeed, among other things, written by the deceased,” Muturi said.

The printed suicide note is believed to contain the details of why she committed suicide but its contents have not been disclosed.