Kechi Okwuchi finds inspiration in tragedy “There’s nothing we can’t overcome as long as we have breath in our lungs”

“My scars do not define me,” 29 year-old Nigerian-born burn survivor advocate and singer, Kechi Okwuchi, told a captivated audience at the Black River Coliseum Thursday during the 32nd annual Women Aware Conference.

Okwuchi was one of two survivors of the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crash on Dec. 10, 2005. The tragic plane accident left Okwuchi with third degree burns over 65% of her body and she was given a 30% chance of survival. Among those who died that day were her school mates from Loyola Jesuit College.

Crowds gather at Women Aware on Thursday.DAR/Paul Davis

Okwuchi spent the next five weeks in a medically induced coma at a hospital in South Africa. After regaining consciousness she found out she was one of the two passengers to survive the crash. Okwuchi was devastated upon hearing the news and her once strong faith wavered. “I didn’t understand how God could allow 60 kids I knew to die,” she recalled, “My life was just thrown off course ... everything I had planned was all gone.”

A move to Galveston, Texas in 2007, would be Okwuchi’s chance to “restart life.” She and her family made the move from Nigeria to seek burn treatment for Okwuchi from the world renowned Shriners Hospital.

Okwuchi said the difficult journey of recovery gave her the clarity to see she “didn’t want to be alive and not really live.” The first time Okwuchi gazed at her altered reflection, she had a revelation. Even though her physical appearance was drastically changed, Okwuchi said she found familiarity and “could also still see me” in the reflection. She found her faith, personality, wants and desires remained intact despite her injuries.

Okwuchi credits her faith and the unending love of family and friends in being instrumental in her physical and emotional healing during the dark days after the accident.

“Life’s obstacles are not a full stop, more like a comma...you move on from those things,” noted Okwuchi. “There’s nothing we can’t overcome as long as we have breath in our lungs.”

A chance music therapy session at Shriners Hospital reignited Okwuchi’s passion for singing. “Music therapy gave me back my independence” and “sing all my troubles away,” she explained.

The very first public concert she gave was for the staff and fellow patients at Shriners Hospital. She then began to sing at burn and trauma fundraisers, galas and various events sharing her love of music in hopes of inspiring others.

Okwuchi’s love of singing saw a lifelong dream come to fruition when she became a finalist on TV’s America’s Got Talent, in 2017. She followed her appearance on AGT with the release of her first single, “Don’t You Dare” in 2018. In 2019, she once again became a finalist on America’s Got Talent, The Champions series, through Simon Cowell’s “golden buzzer.”

“The best things in life happen outside of our comfort zones,” said Okwuchi of her accomplishments. She is grateful for the opportunities given her from her time on AGT, enabling her to speak about and offer inspiration to others through the telling of her story.

“It’s been an amazing journey so far,” Okwuchi expressed. “My hope is to encourage at least one person along the way.”

Okwuchi spends much of the year traveling around the world as an artist, inspirational speaker and burn survivor advocate for numerous burn survivor organizations including Shriners Burn Hospitals.