‘STRUGGLING FRANTICALLY’

Woman Swimming in Pool Dies in Horrific Facebook Livestream

Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, who moved to Canada in 2018 from Kenya, was streaming live as she took an afternoon swim.

The younger sister of a woman who drowned during a Facebook livestream in Canada has paid tribute to her sibling while asking for help to repatriate her body to Kenya. Hellen Wendy Nyabuto, who moved to Canada in 2018 and worked at a long-term care center in Collingwood, was streaming live on Aug. 18 as she took an afternoon swim. According to the Toronto Star, whose reporter viewed the footage before it was removed from Facebook, the video shows “Nyabuto smiling, swimming and interacting with viewers from the shallow end of the pool. About three minutes in, Nyabuto moves to the far end of the pool, where she appears to begin struggling frantically. She then moves out of the frame altogether, but can be heard calling for help.” The livestream then goes quiet for hours until her body is discovered. The Star confirmed with a number of sources close to Hellen that she was the woman seen in the pool. Ontario Provincial Police also confirmed a woman had drowned in a pool on Aug. 18 and that investigators were aware of video of the incident. In a GoFundMe page, the family have asked for $50,000 to bring the 24-year-old’s body back home. Enock Magara Nyabuto explained that sister Hellen was “our sole breadwinner and was the one who was in charge of everything back at home.” At the time of publication the page had raised almost $38,000.