When Dunia Sibomana was just six-years-old he was attacked by chimps at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He lost his younger brother, cousin, and part of his face in the attack.
Sibomana survived but lived with a life-changing disfigurement. His lips and face, his right ear and facial muscles were destroyed, and the middle finger of his left hand was bitten off, according to Stony Brook Medicine.
After the attack, it was difficult for Sibomana to eat. He could not smile. He also became a social outcast in his village because of his disfigurement, being teased and ostracized by the other children at school. Adults ignored him.
Rangers from the national park used their connections with the famed anthropologist Richard Leaky to get help for the little boy. They eventually made contact with Stony Brook Medicine’s executive vice chair of surgery and chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery, Dr. Alexander Dagum.
Dr. Dagum discussed the case with Dr. Leon Klempner, at the time an associate professor of dentistry at the Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine and founder of the nonprofit Smile Rescue Fund for Kids, which identifies children in resource-poor countries who need facial or cranial surgeries.
As an eight-year-old boy from a foreign country, Sibomana came to the United States shy and scared.
Dr. Dagum offered to perform a rare double lip reconstruction surgery on Sibomana at no charge. That was in 2015.
Over the ensuing years - and an initial surgery that lasted 12 hours and involved grafting tissue and muscle from his left forearm to recreate his lips - this little boy has taken an amazing journey.
He lived with two host families before being taken in by Long Beach assistant wrestling coach Miguel Rodriguez. Eventually he and his wife Marissa adopted Sibomana, who became a permanent U.S. resident in 2019.
That would be enough to make for an inspirational tear-jerker of a story but Sibomana’s tale doesn’t stop there.
This winter, the now 14-year-old won the New York State 102-pound wrestling championship, The eighth grader at Long Beach High School won the state title Feb. 26 at the MVP Arena in Albany, pinning top-seeded and previously unbeaten Ryan Ferrara at the 1:32 mark of the first round.
Since he came to the United States Sibomana has had 14 surgeries and will require more as he grows. But that does not define him anymore.
Sibomana told Newsday that he is more excited about life than ever.
“What a great moment for me, my coaches and my family. I did it,” he told the newspaper.