Kenyan Nurse in Saudi Arabia Celebrated for Saving Colleague's Life Amid Hospital Crisis

Country: Saudi Arabia
Date Published: November 28, 2025

NAIROBI – A Kenyan nurse working in Saudi Arabia has become an overnight sensation on X after a viral video showed her performing emergency CPR on a collapsing colleague, saving her life in a high-stakes hospital incident. The heart-pounding footage, shared by the nurse, Mercy Wanjiku, on November 28, quickly amassed over 50,000 views and thousands of retweets from Kenyans worldwide, sparking widespread praise for the diaspora community's unsung heroes in the Gulf.

The incident unfolded at a private clinic in Riyadh, where Wanjiku, a 32-year-old from Kiambu County with five years of experience abroad, sprang into action during a busy night shift. According to her X thread, which included timestamps and follow-up updates, a fellow nurse suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while administering medication to a patient. "I didn't think twice. Training kicked in—chest compressions, breaths, defibrillator ready. She gasped back to life after 3 minutes," Wanjiku posted, attaching the raw hospital CCTV clip blurred for privacy. Verified Kenyan news accounts like @K24Tv and @CitizenTVKE amplified the story, with users flooding replies with messages of gratitude and calls for her recognition back home.

Discussions on X highlighted the broader challenges and triumphs of Kenyan healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia, one of the top destinations for the country's diaspora nurses. Regular users shared similar stories of exploitation, long hours, and low pay contrasted against life-saving moments like this. Influencer @RobertAlai retweeted with, "Mercy is why we send our best abroad—proud of her!" while others debated the need for better protections, noting recent threads on unpaid salaries affecting over 2,000 Kenyans in the Kingdom. Trending under #KenyanHeroesAbroad, the post drew responses from Saudi-based Kenyans, confirming the clinic's policy of no overtime pay as a sore point.

Wanjiku's story comes amid a surge in positive diaspora narratives on X, balancing ongoing controversies like deportation scares and remittance scams. In her final update, she dedicated the save to her late mother, a nurse in Kenya, and urged young professionals: "Abroad is tough, but one life changed makes it worth it." Kenyan MPs have since promised to reach out, with the Ministry of Labour monitoring the thread for potential interventions. As likes continue to pour in, Mercy Wanjiku embodies the resilience of Kenyans abroad, turning a crisis into a beacon of inspiration.