Tuesday’s swimming trip with pals ended tragically for a Kenyan student studying in Australia when she drowned.
Sharon Jepkosgei Kigen perished on Tuesday afternoon in Sydney’s southwest, according to 9News. She had only recently arrived in Australia in November 2022.
She “failed to reemerge” while swimming in the Georges River at Macquarie Fields at around 3.45 p.m. local time, prompting emergency services to be dispatched.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said they searched the water to find her.
“Officers from The Traffic and Highway Patrol entered the water along with members of the public and commenced to search the water where the woman was located and brought to the shoreline,” NSW Police said in a statement.
She was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by NSW Ambulance personnel, but she did not survive.
She attended Australian Catholic University-North Sydney as a student
Ms. Kigen was born and raised in Moiben, Uasin Gishu, and now her family is requesting financial support to bring her remains back to Kenya for burial.
Her family and friends have since set up a GoFundMe page to collect money and are targeting to raise Sh2.5 million (AUD$20,000) to enable her body repatriated to Kenya.
