Would you dare to go on the world stage with the scars of horrific burns all over your body? Kechi did – on America’s Got Talent 2017. And brought the world to its feet.
On Dec 10, 2005, Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 from the Nigerian city of Abuja crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport. The domestic flight had 109 people on board, including 60 students. The plane slammed into the ground and burst into flames. Only two people survived, one of them a student called Kechi Okwuchi.
In a recent episode of America’s Got Talent 2017, Kechi stood on stage with the full glare of the harsh lights on all the scars of the horrific injuries she suffered in the crash.
Now living in Houston, USA, she said that while she was lying in hospital with bandages from head to foot and not being able to move, music was her escape and that’s why it means so much to her.
Delivering an emotional rendition of Ed Sheeran’s soulful ‘Thinking Out Loud‘, last year’s Grammy Song of the Year, she got the judges – including the usually unruffled Simon Cowell – on their feet and received a standing ovation from the audience.
What poise, what courage. And what a beautiful voice.