A lot of people in Nigeria will never forget 2005 and the Sosoliso plane crash that claimed 107 lives. This was on December 10, 2005. 60 of them had been students from Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja and out of the 60, Kechi Okwuchi was the only survivor. With burns covering 60% of her body and over 75 surgeries later, Kechi’s story is one of perseverance and determination.
Kechi Okwuchi, one of the only two survivors of the crash is using a recorded video as a medium to get through to the current President of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan with an appeal for something to be done about the aviation industry in Nigeria.
In the video she says “Your Excellency, there are many accidents and many deaths that happen in Nigeria that cannot be controlled – diseases, car accidents, even just walking on the road. But this, this is a kind of loss that can be controlled. And I’m talking about the aviation industry in Nigeria”
Kechi Okwuchi was a student of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, but is now a student of a private Catholic university, University of St. Thomas, in Houston, Texas, USA. She spoke at the Memorial/Symposium and Presentation for the “60 Angels Memorial Staff Residence” in Abuja in honour of the 60 students of the school who died in the crash.
During the memorial/symposium she states,
“I want to mention that while here, I have heard about every single plane crash that has occurred in Nigeria since 2005. In fact, there was the ADC plane crash that happened exactly a year after, on my birthday incidentally. When it happened (this was in 2006), I was catapulted back to my own memories of all the pain, the sorrow, the tears, the loss, and I thought about all the families and friends of the 107 victims from my accident who are still grieving today. With each plane crash I hear about, a new pain is born. As my own memories replay in my mind, I know that somewhere back home a new set of families are grieving because they have lost loved ones.”
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