Popular Kenyan blogger Edgar Obare had a close brush with death this past weekend to what appears to be an allergic reaction he suffered after eating one of his favorite seafoods. Taking to his Instagram page, the popular blogger shared posts narrating what went down after he went to met his friend at one of his favorite restaurants that he frequents, ArtCaffe, only to end up in a hospital.
So, it was the journalist’s day off work, and so he decided to catch up and have lunch with an old friend whom he went on to meet at ArtCaffe in Capital Center, but he narrates that their service was very slow, there was like only one waiter servicing the upstairs tables. He ordered his favorite food prawns tagliatelle which he says was delicious. So they were laughing and chatting, and over the next hour, things started going south for him.
As soon as he finished his meal, an extreme allergic reaction kicked in. He suddenly started feeling like he’s having a scratching throat and in the next minute he was tearing up. He started struggling with his breath since his nose was blocked and his throat was closing up. He had hives all over his neck and it was itchy all over. All he could think of at that time was getting some water to drink. So he ran downstairs to the counter to get some water.
He then went out to the balcony for some fresh air but all that was not working. He left for the bathroom and the sight of his face in the mirror was horrible. It was all swollen and his eyes were bloodshot red. That’s when he knew that he needed to seek medical attention immediately to save his life.
His friend immediately came and they went downstairs to pay their bill at the counter and rushed outside trying to figure out the nearest hospital. It was 4 pm at the time, so they went to Aga Khan hospital at capital center and it was already closed. They then rushed into Naivas chemist, and from their googling, he was having an extreme allergic reaction. So he was given 2 antihistamine tablets which he put under his tongue, and was advised to go to hospital immediately.
At the Naivas chemist they googled for them and found Nairobi hospital was close by, actually in the same mall and was still open. They got there immediately and he was given Clorpheniramine, Hydrocortisone, and Cotipred injections, and he spent the next two hours in a hospital bed. The doctor said that he suffered anaphylactic shock and was very close to death.
The Nairobi Hospital and Naivas chemist had really saved his life because it could have been a different story by now.
Obare recently met with the ArtCaffe General manager Yarden who apologised for the experience he encountered.
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