Ejiofor and girlfriend at the Oscars last night. |
Ejiofor and sister Zain Asher |
The Nigerian-British actor was given a specialy touching message by his younger sister Zain Asher who works as a reporter with CNN. The special message was based on the fact that he just clocked the same age his dad was when he died in Nigeria from a ghastly motor accident in which only Ejiofor survived with heavy
Ejiofor and sister Zain in 1987. |
She also presented a picture of them when they were kids in their Arinze quarters here in Eastern Nigeria. Such an emotional moment you'd say!
Read what she said about their sad experience
Chiwetel was just 11 in 1998 when, on a bonding trip to Arinze’s native Nigeria, the car they were travelling in was involved in a head-on collision with a lorry.
He was the only survivor of the crash that also killed three other passengers, and Zain believes it is significant that her brother is now the same age as their father was when he died.
He had been very close to his father,’ Zain says. ‘And while the whole family was suffering from his death, the impact on Chiwetel was especially intense. He became very focused and threw himself into everything with an intense passion.
‘It was as if he had been given a miraculous chance to live and he was determined to make the most of it.’
The actor , who still bears scars from the accident, admits that the loss of his father has been a huge influence on his life and career and he said: ‘I think I have a constant reflective relationship with him.
'As I reach the age he was when he died, the relationship is becoming more acute.But I do think there’s a constant dynamic that will continue always; and be an influence on the kind of work I do.’
Xo touching
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