- Irwin Mukonyole took his ailing father to the hospital believing they would return home together, but he walked back alone
- His dad, Aggrey Mukonyole Karamoja, took what Irwin now calls his “last flight,” leaving behind a family waiting for answers and prayer
- Now, the grieving son must face the hard journey of taking his father’s body back to his mother, who had expected him to return healed
When Irwin Mukonyole’s father, Aggrey Mukonyole Karamoja, boarded a flight to Nairobi, the family was hopeful he would return home feeling better.
Source: Facebook
The 87-year-old had travelled for treatment at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).
Irwin’s unanswered question
Irwin told TUKO.co.ke that his mother, who had remained in Malava, had prayed for them as they left home, expecting to pray again when they returned — both alive.
However, what was meant to be a journey of hope, a final attempt at healing, became a son’s most painful lesson in goodbye.
“So, Papa, this was to be your last flight?” Irwin asked in anguish. “This was to be our last flight together?” .
The octogenarian died at 6am on February 4, with doctors establishing that the cause of death was adenocarcinoma, known in simple terms as cancer of the liver.
Irwin’s last day with dad
Irwin remembers the night before his father died with a clarity that still wounds him. The pain, he says, was relentless, unlike anything he had seen in his father’s long life.
“Papa, it was so painful,” he recalls. “I had never seen you in such pain before. Or maybe you always hid it from me.”
As doctors worked and his son tried to reassure him, Aggrey cried out in anguish, calling Irwin’s name again and again.
For the son, it was unbearable, more painful, he says, than the illness itself. Despite the medical care and whispered assurances that things would calm down, morning came without mercy. Aggrey never woke up.
Why Irwin is scared of going home
What haunts Irwin most is not only the moment of death, but what followed: the silence, the waiting, and the walk he never imagined taking alone.
“Mum is waiting,” Irwin says. “What will I tell her when I walk back home alone? With a casket?”
Since his father’s death, Irwin has returned to the KUTRRH mortuary six times. Each visit carries the same fragile hope that his father might somehow sense his presence, wake up, and speak to him as he used to.
He imagines his father rising, walking with him back home, or at least sending him with a final message to his mother. But the doors remain closed, and the silence answers back.
“I am afraid of going home,” Irwin admits quietly. “Going home alone.”
Irwin’s father left rich legacy
Aggrey Mukonyole Karamoja’s life, however, was far larger than its final chapter. At 87, he had lived what his family describes as a full, purposeful and impactful life.
He was a man of deep faith, committed service and unwavering devotion to education and family. To those who knew him, he was a pillar, a source of wisdom, steadiness and prayer.
That legacy now stands in stark contrast to the raw grief of a son left behind at a hospital gate, trying to make sense of a journey that ended too soon.
In Irwin’s telling, his father’s death feels less like a passing and more like a sudden abandonment, a flight taken alone, without warning.
Source: Facebook
How to support Irwin’s family
As the Mukonyole family prepares to lay Aggrey to rest, Irwin carries the weight of an unfinished journey: the last flight they were meant to share.
What remains is love, memory, and a legacy that will endure long after the pain eases, even if the questions never quite do.
Well-wishers can offer financial assistance to the family through the finance custodian, Mabel Kagonya, on 0722 857 060.
Daughter offers parents first-ever flight
In a story with a happy ending, a young woman has inspired many by surprising her parents with their first-ever flight and vacation to Malindi.
Lilly Ngiciri told TUKO.co.ke that her plan was simply to gift her parents a trip, allowing them to have fun and appreciate their sacrifices and efforts in raising her and her siblings.
As the youngest in the family, she witnessed firsthand how hard her parents worked to raise her and her three sisters, ensuring they all went to school and never lacked, despite their humble background.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
