When Victor Chukwueke saw his mother walk into the baggage claim area of the Detroit Metro Airport, he ran into her arms, hugging her tightly. Looking at each other in disbelief, they held one another for the next five minutes, almost afraid to let go.
The last time the mother and son (both pictured below during their reunion) saw each other was when Victor, now 25, left Nigeria to live in the United States at the age of 15. Fast-forward a decade, and Victor is not only graduating with honors from Wayne State University, he is also a commencement speaker. His mother, Mary, arrived in Detroit to witness this major milestone in her son’s life.
Just ten years ago, neither Victor nor his mother would have thought such an achievement possible. As a child, growing up in an impoverished family in a rural village in Nigeria, Victor developed large tumors on the top of his head and side of his face. His mother took him from hospital to hospital to seek treatment for his condition, an extreme case of neurofibromatosis. But doctor after doctor in Nigeria told Victor’s mom that nothing could be done for her son.
Victor feared the painful ostracism and teasing by other children more than the tumor itself. “I was so tired of the humiliation,” he remembered. Without treatment, the tumor continued to grow and severely deform his face.
In 2001, when Victor was 15, a missionary nun arranged for a plastic surgeon from Southfield, MI to operate on him free of charge. Leaving his family in Nigeria, not knowing when he would see any of them again, Victor came to America—a move that would forever change his life. Over the course of the past decade, he underwent six major surgeries and is scheduled for another one this summer
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