I Hung Up- Widow Of Kelvin Kiptum's Coach On Picking Up Phone Call Confirming Accident

Joan Chelimo, the widow of Gervais Hakizimana who died in a road accident on Sunday, February 11 alongside the late marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, revisited the last phone call she had with Hakizimana before the accident occurred at the Kaptagat area along the Elgeyo Marakwet-Ravine road.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday, February 13, Chelimo revealed that she spoke with him on the phone a few minutes past 10 pm, only to not hear from him again as promised after 20 minutes, one hour before the accident occurred.

She was then called by a friend an hour after what would be her last-ever conversation with Hakizimana who inquired about the whereabouts of her husband. The friend would call a second time after Chelimo hung up, to which Chelimo divulged to the friend that Hakizimana was in the company of Kiptum.

She then called her mother to go check on her husband since she lives near his training camp in Kaptagat. The camp was empty and neighbours joined in the search for the coach.

World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum's coach Gervais Hakizimana and his wife Joan Chelimo. /THE STAR

However, the friend phoned Chelimo again, this time delivering the devastating news to her.

"My friend told me that Kiptum had been involved in an accident. I got shocked because when he left he was with Kiptum. I hung up at first but my friend called again to ask whether I was with my husband but I said he left with Kiptum," said the grieving widow.

"My friend had by this time arrived at the scene and they gave me the bad news that my husband was no more."

Chelimo added that her husband used to communicate all the time with her on the phone, stating that she constantly stared at her phone waiting for the late Hakizimana to call her.

According to her, Hakizimana and Kiptum knew each other for a long time even before he became a coach. As an athlete, the then-teenage Kiptum was still in school and would chase Hakizimana in the forest during training.

COVID-19 then brought them closer as a coach and an athlete because there were no competitions or travelling during the pandemic. 

"When they started bonding, my husband told me to stay put in France for a bit. He said he wanted to train Kiptum to break the marathon record which he eventually did," she said.

Hakizimana's family from Rwanda arrived in Kenya to plan on taking the coach back home for burial, terming the loss of their kin as one that has left a big gap in their family.

Until this week, not many Kenyans knew Hakizimana, the man behind the success of the late Kiptum. The two, who were more than just good friends, died on Sunday night in the road accident near Kaptagat Forest.

Kiptum's death sent shockwaves throughout the country and across the sporting world, with lawmakers both at the National Assembly and the Senate using their return to House business after a long recess to express their condolences.

Members of Parliament (MP) at the National Assembly observed a minute of silence in remembrance of the world marathon record holder, calling for the government to protect the country's athletes, sentiments that were echoed by the Senate which also called for the consideration of the welfare of sportsmen and women.

“Many of us who are fans of athletics were looking forward to the battle with (Eliud) Kipchoge, so many of our athletes have departed in this way...Rudisha had such an incident which he never recovered from, and it points out to a lack of mentorship," Senate Majority Leader, Aaron Cheruiyot stated.

The MPs demanded that further investigations be done to ascertain the identities of four people alleged to have visited Kiptum's home in unclear circumstances, as revealed by Kiptum's father, who took pictures as well as those of a car he claimed to have ferried the persons he said were following his late son.

Police had however confirmed that Kiptum died in the accident amid questions over what really transpired on Sunday night. A further review of the accident scene as well as the Toyota Premio vehicle involved in the accident that was towed to Kaptagat Police Station, showed that the front part was intact and the airbags did not deploy.

“The sensor of the airbag normally is at the front, and if there was no impact on the front part of the vehicle, the airbags will not move. The impact (on Kiptum's car) was on the roof...on the top of the car...so that’s why we could not see the airbags out," Keiyo South OCPD Abdullahi Dahir disclosed.

Dahir further stated that they had widened their probe into claims that the unknown men followed Kiptum four days before his untimely death.

Sharon Kosgey, who survived the fatal accident unscathed, is also expected to help police recreate events leading up to the death of the athlete and his coach.

Car wreckage from a road accident that claimed the life of Kelvin Kiptum on February 11, 2024. /THE TELEGRAPH