‘Glen View fire stressed hubby to death’

When she met him back in 1996, the first thing that captivated her was his artistry.

Mr Patrick Nyandoro could spin planks of wood into beautiful pieces of furniture.

And it appears this passion for carpentry might have driven him to the grave — or so his widow, Mrs Regina Nyandoro, ruefully concludes.

On July 29, 2015 Mr Nyandoro lost furniture stock worth US$2 500 in the now infamous inferno that gutted Harare’s Glen View Home Industry Complex.

He died a day later.

Mrs Nyandoro believes his death was pretty much precipitated by the demise of his love – his furniture enterprise.

“He was recovering; responding well to medication. I should never have told him about the inferno,” she says, fighting back the tears.

Mr Nyandoro was hospitalised just a few days before the fire after contracting severe influenza.

He was about to be discharged when disaster struck.

“He had inhaled lots of dust and was admitted after contracting the flu. He was due for discharge on the same day the complex was burnt,” recounts Mrs Nyandoro.

“I told him the sad news, and he didn’t say a word. However, I could tell he was shocked to the point of being seriously distressed. I thought his not saying much was due to his illness: I was wrong.

“As one not good at expressing his feelings, being stressed about the fire destroying his business probably ended up taking his life. The hospital stated that the cause of death was unknown.”

The carpenter’s close friend, Mr Pedzisai Chibuda, says: “Carpentry was the only profession he knew; it was his life.

“We met in 1996 when we were both employed by a reputed furniture company.

‘‘In 2004, we left to start our own businesses, becoming some of the first people at the complex. Our business has been difficult, thus we have been selling most stuff and buying material on credit.”

Complex management committee member Mr Richard Dhingembiri indicates two other entrepreneurs might have succumbed to stress relating to losses from the fire.

“These people had worked at this complex for long; it was their source of livelihood. Reports suggest the inferno contributed to their deaths as their items worth thousands were destroyed.”

The complex is slowly regaining shape.

The same can’t be said of the lives of Mr Nyandoro’s widow and five children