A policeman has reportedly lost both arms during an anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi, Kenya.
Inspector David Maina and his colleagues from the police service were on duty to ensure order during the ‘Occupy Parliament’ protests when, unexpectedly, he detonated a tear gas canister and delayed releasing it, leading to it exploding in his hands.
Chronicle NG reports that a man died on the sidelines of mass demonstrations against proposed tax hikes in the Kenyan capital, police said Friday, with the mounting protest a day earlier also leaving 200 people injured.
A police watchdog said it was investigating allegations that the man was shot by police after Thursday’s demonstrations in Nairobi, the second this week.
Led largely by young Kenyans, the protests began in Nairobi on Tuesday before spreading nationwide.
After losing both forearms in the aftermath of the tragedy, the father of three children, who had been supporting his family through police work, will now have to make a total life change.
Speaking to reporters, the policeman, in seemingly high spirits from his hospital bed on Thursday, recounted the horrific incident in Nairobi.
“It was a sad day that this happened, as we were trying to ensure calmness in Nairobi. It has changed my life a lot because there are many things that I won’t be able to do, and I also don’t know what I will tell my kids about this; they will be very shocked,” he recounted.
According to hospital doctors, the injuries the policeman received would likely change his life, and he might require prosthetic arms to at least partially lead a regular life.
Maina suffered severe injuries, and according to the hospital’s chief physician, Prakash Sain, no amount of therapy or corrective surgery will undo the harm.
“He (policeman) had lost both his hands; the primary treatment has been done, but with the kind of injury he has, there is no surgery or treatment that can heal him now,” said Dr. Sain.
