eet Nigerian-born Kechi Okwuchi; she is a survivor of a plane crash in Nigeria. She shot into the global limelight when she auditioned for season 12 of the popular reality TV show “America’s Got Talent.”
During her audition, she wowed the judges with her singing and inspired many with her remarkable story. She even got a standing ovation from the judges (including Simon Cowell) for her soulful rendition of Ed Sheeran‘s “Thinking Out Loud.” Before captivating the audience with her voice, Okwuchi took a moment to share how her love for singing and deep appreciation for music was formed.
“I was in a plane crash when I was about 16 years old back in Nigeria. It took the lives of 107 out of 109 passengers, and I was one of the two survivors,” Okwuchi said, adding, “Lying down in the hospital bed with bandages from head to foot, music was my escape, and that’s why it means so much to me.”
In 2005, Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 carried 109 people from Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, before crashing and bursting into flames while trying to land at Port Harcourt International Airport. It caused the death of 107 out of 109 passengers.
Okwuchi, then a 16-year-old secondary school student, was one of the two surviving passengers, with rescuers managing to pull her out of the burning plane. She suffered from extensive burns.
She went on to receive treatment at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, and at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, Texas, United States. She has endured more than 100 surgeries, including painful skin grafts.
Despite enduring severe burns covering much of her body, she has defied all odds to pursue higher education. In 2015, Kechi graduated from the University of Thomas Houston, Texas with a first-class degree in Economics. She was also inducted into six academic honor societies, earned the award for the “Most Outstanding Student,” and was accepted into the graduate school for her MBA. In addition, she was chosen to give the commencement address at her graduation.
Last year, she successfully earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with distinction. She earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Economics from the University of St. Thomas in Texas.
When Kechi Okwuechi was 16-years-old she survived a plane crash in Nigeria that killed 107 people… and after watching her audition at AGT, it’s clear she is not taking her second chance at life for granted.
Kechi recalled the terrifying moment before the plane struck the ground, “I remember just saying I don’t know, but I think we should pray or something, I don’t know. We actually never got a chance. That’s the last memory I have before I blacked out.”
Kechi survived the horrifying ordeal, but her journey to the AGT stage would be a long and painful one. The young woman endured more than 100 surgeries, reconstructive and otherwise, on her road to recovery.
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Kechi says that music was a huge part of her healing, “Lying in the hospital bed unable to move, music was my escape. It did so much for me.”
Four years after the tragedy, the young woman returned to college at the University of Saint Thomas and graduated with honors. She was tasked to give the commencement speech at graduation, dedicating her accomplishments to 60 of her classmates that died in the 2005 plane crash.
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You see, to me, this degree is not just a degree. It is a gift to the 60 students that died in a plane crash I was in 10 years ago. It represents the fulfillment of a promise I made, to those students and to their parents, that I would reach this important milestone on behalf of those they lost.
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And now, in 2017, Kechi faces yet another major challenge in this journey called life… the gauntlet of America’s Got Talent.
Simon gave her the go ahead to start singing and away she went…. but nobody in the room could have predicted how talented this young woman was.
Check it out her performance before it airs in the video below!
Share and spread Kechi’s incredible story!
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