“My mother went to bury my son while I celebrated my ex-husband’s birthday” – Xandy Kamel Opens Up

According to a report by Ghanaweb on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Ghanaian actress Xandy Kamel has opened up about the day her eldest son was buried, saying she was at home marking her then-husband’s birthday while her family laid the boy to rest.

Speaking to fellow actress Emelia Brobbey, Xandy recalled that the date was September 17, her ex-husband’s birthday. Her son had just finished writing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and went with friends to Sakumono Beach. He never came home. He drowned.

The family was at home when the news reached them. Xandy said friends had gathered for the birthday, and her then-husband had been drinking. Because of how deeply she cared for him at the time, she did not feel comfortable leaving his side. She asked her mother and siblings to take charge of her son’s body.

“So, it was my mother who went to bury my late son,” she said.

The actress also explained that the boy’s body was not found immediately after he drowned. Rituals had to be performed at the sea, and she took part in them. The body was eventually swept ashore three days later.

According to Xandy, tradition also kept her away from the funeral. In the custom where she comes from, a death like her son’s is classified as tragic and unnatural, known in Akan as “Atofo Wuɔ.” Under that custom, a mother is not permitted to see the body, and so she could not follow it to the burial. She returned to the birthday gathering instead.

Xandy, who is now divorced from the man she stayed beside that day, has previously spoken publicly about grief and depression following the loss of her son. A recent social media post in which she wrote that she could no longer fight “the battle” had drawn concern from fans.

Her latest account adds a painful layer to that story: a mother caught between devotion to a husband, the weight of tradition, and the loss of her child.

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