I took a seat to consider an unsung hero in my life. My thoughts wandered to historical characters I had grown up hearing about, as well as freedom fighters and others I looked up on the internet. But I had no ties to any of them, and then it occurred to me that I was living with an unsung hero.
THROWBACK WITH MY DAD
Allow me to introduce my superman, Kenechukwu's (
HOW IT STARTED
Something terrible happened to our family in the year 2004. My father and mother had been to our hometown for a burial service, and on their way back, they were involved in a boat accident. My mother could not swim, and because such disasters were uncommon, practically everyone on the boat did not have a life jacket.
My father served as her life jacket, lifting her out of the water while flipping his legs inside to keep them both afloat. There was no way out, even if you were to scream at the top of your voice, because they were in the middle of the Niger River.
My father clung to her for several hours as he ran out of energy.He was still clinging to her despite his frail state. My mother had seen that if this persisted, they might both die at the same time.But she was more worried about me, who was waiting for my parents in the city. My father recalls how she urged him to look after me so that at least one parent would live, and that is how we lost her in the river.
The entire process of losing someone is difficult; even minor heartbreaks may break you down; I cannot picture losing a loved one permanently. Even when rescue arrived, he was too exhausted to swim to the boats. He had to keep going till he got close to one and just grabbed on to it until he was dragged inside.In that moment, the only thing he wanted was to die alongside her.
I CANNOT BELIEVE I POSED FOR THIS
Moving forward, my dad became a father and mother. We stayed together for seven years. In those period, he would be the one to wash my clothes when I pee on the bed, cook for me three times daily( different meals), take me to school and pick me from school while combining it with work.
I had the best education, my collection of toys grew large that I had to dash some of them, my dad would celebrate my birthday every year, inviting friends and family.My addiction to burger started when I was young because my dad would always get them for me every week.
He would have panic attacks when I fall ill or sick. He would seem like the world is about ending for him. I remembered once when he had to skip work just so he would use wet towels to reduce my body temperature because I had fever. He was my nurse.
I have one of the biggest collections of primary and high school books. I attended the best schools and my dad was super strict. He once made me cram the entire chemistry textbook, I knew the page and paragraphs of information when I argued with my teachers about chemistry. It was crazy but real, thanks to him
We talk and argue about Politics, our greatest topic is Sports. We support the same football team (Chelsea FC), so we watch most games together, even when I am away he would call me to remind me about the match
Of course, we would have alot of disagreements, he was always concerned about my friends, social life and social media presence. We would fight most times but settle in an awkward way because African Parents would never say sorry.
Staying seven years with him alone, modified everything for us. I had to pick who my step mom was going to be. My dad did not want those Nollywood stories of Bad Step Mothers happening to me.I did not even care because all the ladies were so good to me, buying gifts probably as a bribe. But I settled for the woman who refused to make the food I requested. She said No and that was the first "No" I received in a long time. But I guess it was a sign that she was being natural and not fake. The rest is history because I have the best relationship with my step mom as compared to my dad
My dad always want the best for me, I guess he was not prepared for the event in 2004 but it modified him into becoming my superhero. Overall, I consider him to be a superhero because he is a survivor who had to fix his life quickly just for me to have a better one. I consider him a great father and someone I would always love.
All GIFS were gotten from [Source]
All images are mine unless otherwise stated
