‘A miracle’: UK grad pursues neuroscience after traumatic brain injury in childhood
Bisimwa “Jack” Nzerhumana has experienced many things: as a child, he and his family were refugees, fleeing from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then, he suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him hospitalized for weeks.
On Friday, Nzerhumana will graduate from the University of Kentucky with two degrees. He is the first in his family to earn a college degree, and will give the student address at his graduation ceremony.
But the path to graduation has been long.
Nzerhumana was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country plagued by civil unrest. When he was five, his family fled the country. They lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for several years, where they still experienced insecurities, he said.
While attending school in Kenya, Nzerhumana was hit in the back of the head by a few students. He suffered from a traumatic brain injury, and spent weeks in the hospital recovering.
“I was in the hospital for quite some time, and I had to kind of just recover and get back to my senses,” Nzerhumana said.
He eventually recovered, but that experience sparked his interest in studying medicine.
“That’s what always interested me, and put that interest in me, seeing how powerful the brain is,” he said.
When he was 12, his family moved to Lexington through the support of the United Nations. When he was in high school, Nzerhumana participated in a summer program through UK’s Health Researchers Youth Academy. That summer, he was able to shadow doctors and nurses at UK, and he decided he wanted to pursue a career in neuroscience.
“It just introduced us to what college is like, and just being in the hospital and seeing how doctors are really helping their patients kind of sparked that interest and motivated me more,” Nzerhumana said. “I could see myself doing this.”
While at UK, Nzerhumana has been involved in multiple areas of campus. He is also a member of the Lewis Honors College and senate president for the Student Government association. Additionally, he works for Wild Health, assisting with COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
While it hasn’t been easy pursuing two degrees, one in neuroscience and one in psychology, Nzerhumana said he is grateful for all the support he received at UK. Students and professors pushed him to do his best, he said, and even when things got difficult, they were in it together.
“Me being able to just go through school, I think it was a miracle,” Nzerhumana said. “That’s what I always say: God knows why I came here and he took me to that path.”
After graduation, Nzerhumana will be working at the UK pediatrics clinic and continue working with Wild Health. He’ll start studying for the MCAT, which he’ll take next year, and then begin applying for medical school, he said.
Nzerhumana will be the first person in his family to graduate from college. His family was excited to celebrate on Friday, he said.
“With the prayers of my family and encouragement from my pastor, that has really pushed me to where I even believe that I can reach things that are unattainable,” Nzerhumana said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 2:22 PM.