Kechi Okwuchi: More Than My Scars
Rebirth With J.R. Martinez
English - November 24, 2021 07:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBSociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
J.R. wants to start a band and asks his guest, Kechi Okwuchi, to join him. Kechi is a Singer, Motivational Speaker, Bullying Prevention Advocate, and a 2017 America’s Got Talent finalist. In this episode, J.R. chats with Kechi on how she grew her passion for music and went on to audition for America’s Got Talent. Kechi shares her recovery from a traumatic plane crash accident and her journey of reconciling her faith and uncovering what it really means to be a Christian. Kechi is also out with a new book, More Than My Scars, which takes a hard look at what truly defines you.
Key Takeaways
Why did Kechi start singing? She always sang, but singing became her therapy/escape because it was the only thing that she could do that didn’t hurt (after the accident). What inspired Kechi to audition for America’s Got Talent? There were a lot of moments after the audition where she could say no but she was the one who decided in the end to keep pushing through to see what happens. Kechi was involved in a plane crash in Nigeria when she was 16 years old where, out of 109 people on the plane, there were only two survivors. She shares her experience. Kechi and 60 of her school friends were on that flight, coming home for Christmas. She woke up from a coma five weeks later with third degree burns over 65% of her body. Kechi did not know she was only one out of two survivors until four months later. It was a huge burden to bear and she cried for days. J.R. tries to put himself in her position. He was a burn survivor at 19 vs. her being 16. Despite just a three year age difference, there’s a big mindset leap between those ages. What helped Kechi through her depression? Kechi was born into a Christian household. She knew what it meant to be a Christian theoretically, but did not understand how He could take so many of her friends away. She and her mom talked a lot during this time. She was questioning her relationship with God, but her mom told her, “Kechi, the truth is being a Christian does not exempt you from experiencing bad things.” Kechi’s mother wrote a book about the experience and shared some of her personal journals she had written at the time. Did Kechi learn something new after reading the book? Reading through the book she realized that no one around her focused or even mentioned how she looked. They only encouraged her to get better, and that helped her focus on that. Music was very important to her recovery because it was something that didn’t matter what physical capacity she had because she still could sing. That was something that the accident didn’t take away from her. Her physical therapist realized how much she loved to sing and suggested making music a part of her therapy. That has been the best suggestion of her life. What was it like standing in front of Simon Cowell and singing on America’s Got Talent? Kechi shares how America’s Got Talent gave her so many opportunities. It’s not just about singing for it, but also being an ambassador for burn survivors and helping give them a voice. Remember, not all injuries are external. They can also be internal trauma people are going through that they are not necessarily showing to others. Kechi is passionate about fighting against bullying as well. She shares that when they first moved to America, her little sister was intensely bullied and it was painful to watch. Kechi feels very blessed to work with so many inspiring organizations and people. There is so much to life after trauma.
Continue On Your Journey
Refined for Rebirth Book by Ijeoma Okwuchi
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