A new documentary series unravels the harrowing true story of an American missionary blamed for the deaths of more than a hundred children.
Renee Bach, 39, who was branded the Angel of Death, takes center stage in HBO’s new three-part series Savior Complex.
The evangelist, originally from Virginia, set up a nonprofit “malnutrition rehab center” in Uganda in 2009, but was later accused of providing unlicensed — and allegedly fatal — medical care.
Renee, who has been charged in connection with several deaths but has never been criminally charged either in the US or Uganda, told the programme: ‘I think some of the wildest accusations about me were that I had killed 800 children, that I medically experimented on children, compared to Adolf Hitler and assumed to be part of the KKK.’
She added: “I feel like I have taken the blow for every white person who has ever set foot in Uganda.”
Here, FEMAIL has exposed the disturbing reality of the tragedy that unfolded.
Renee Bach, 39, who was branded the Angel of Death, takes center stage in HBO’s new three-part series Savior Complex
The evangelist, originally from Virginia, set up a nonprofit “malnutrition rehab center” in Uganda in 2009, but was later accused of providing unlicensed — and allegedly fatal — care.
Renee, who was sued by two African mothers over the deaths of their children, told HBO: “I think some of the wildest accusations about me were that I killed 800 children.”
Renee, a “homeschooled missionary,” first traveled to Jinja, Uganda, for a ten-month trip in 2007 as a teenager – but she soon felt “called by God” to do more.
‘I started seeing malnutrition everywhere. So many children came looking for help,” she told the program.
As a result, the then 19-year-old returned to the country in 2009 and “decided to establish a malnutrition rehabilitation center.”
She started the “non-governmental organization with money raised through her church in Bedford, Virginia,” according to The New Yorker.
The Serving His Children clinic aimed to address malnutrition in impoverished regions by providing free meals and establishing community engagement programs.
Renee also set up a blog to document the charity’s ongoing work, but her posts, which would later be submitted as evidence against her in court, indicated that she was doing more despite having no medical training.
“I hooked the baby up to oxygen and went to work,” she wrote in 2011. “I took her temperature, started an IV, checked her blood sugar, tested for malaria and looked at her (hemoglobin) count.”
Witnesses also accused Renee of performing medical procedures – such as inserting catheters and administering medications – on babies and children, claiming she walked around “dressed in a clinical gown” with a “stethoscope around her neck.”
Renee, a homeschooled missionary, first traveled to Jinja, Uganda, for a ten-month trip in 2007 as a teenager – but she soon felt ‘called by God’ to do more
As a result, the then 19-year-old returned to the country in 2009 and ‘decided to set up a malnutrition rehab center’
Former volunteer Jacqueline Grace Kramlich, a registered nurse, spoke with ABC news and claimed Renee ‘didn’t believe Ugandan doctors knew what they were talking about’ and instead looked up treatments online.
In the documentary, others also claimed she acted ‘as if she were a medical staff’, but revealed she was ‘not qualified’.
And when a former nurse who worked with Renee is asked if she thinks she’s a murderer, she starts talking before cutting herself off and saying, “Oh God, that’s a good question.”
From 2010 to 2015, Renee said the center took in 940 children, but 105 of them died, according to NPR.
The facility became increasingly overrun with problems and authorities were forced to close it.
In January 2019, the first civil case against Renee was filed at the High Court in Jinja.
Gimbo Zubeda’s three-year-old son and Kakai Annet’s one-year-old son died after treatment at the Serving His Children center.
Annet said at the time: “I feel like his life was ripped from my arms by the actions of Mrs. Renee Bach.”
The following year, without accepting liability, Renee and the organization agreed to pay the mothers 35,000,000 Ugandan shillings each – about $9,000 – according to The guard.
Renee, who witnesses said walked around “dressed in a clinical gown” with a “stethoscope around her neck,” was accused of performing medical procedures such as inserting catheters and administering medications
It was also claimed that Renee ‘didn’t believe Ugandan doctors knew what they were talking about’ and instead looked up treatments online
Speculation continued to swirl and Renee was later labeled the Angel of Death on social media as the cry against ‘white saviors’ only grew louder.
However, a short time later, four more families took legal action against the American missionary, demanding damages and an apology, and demanding that criminal charges be brought against Renee.
Speculations continued to swirl and Renee was later labeled as the Angel of Death on social media.
It also fueled calls against “white saviors” and the ethics of foreign aid work conducted “in the name of humanitarian and religious ideals.”
She returned to America and is said to have no plans to return to Uganda.
Renee now lives with her two daughters — one of whom is Ugandan Renee who was adopted after being brought to the now-defunct center, according to The New Yorker.
In the trailer for the upcoming documentary, Renee concluded, “I truly believe she saved lives. Hundreds and hundreds of them.
“I feel like I’ve taken the hit for every white person in Uganda. I didn’t kill any children.’
Savior Complex is now available to stream on HBO Max