CNN business correspondent Zain Asher revealed brother Chiwetel Ejiofor had been spared from a car accident at the age of 12 that killed everyone else aboard – including their father – in an emotional interview Thursday celebrating Ejiofor’s Best Actor Oscar nomination.
“Some people know this already, but when Chiwetel was 12 years old, he was in a car accident with my father. And everybody in the car died apart from Chiwetel,” Asher told anchor Brooke Baldwin during CNN Newsroom.
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Asher said the family is very proud of Ejiofor earning the actor nod for his performance in “12 Years a Slave,” but the day is bittersweet, since their father is no longer alive to see it.
Baldwin was clearly moved by the unexpected story as well.
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“I need tissues, here! I mean, this is unbelievable,” she said.
But Asher said the incident made her brother all the more driven to pursue his dreams, which were realized this year with Ejiofor’s breakthrough performance in the Steve McQueen drama.
“That chance at life that he was given – he really has gone on to make the most of it.”
Watch the clip below: