‘Son of a blind man and stroke-surviving woman’ – KNUST valedictorian shares his story

The 2025 valedictorian of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Nereus Mensah Gyasi, has shared the challenges he faced growing up, revealing that his father is blind and his mother survived a stroke.

Despite these difficulties, Gyasi persevered through his education and emerged as a top student, using his story to inspire his fellow graduates.

“If I, the son of a blind man and a stroke-surviving woman, can stand here today not just as a graduate, but as valedictorian, then believe me when I say your dreams are valid. Your story matters, and your background is not a barrier. It doesn’t matter where you started. What matters is that you start and that you don’t stop. Because one day, someone will look at you and say, if they did it, then I can too.

“I don’t have any relative up there who can hold my hand and send me to an office and say, this is my grandchild or my cousin. In this life, it is me and God. So, anything I have to do to make it, I must do. Because most of my parents are disabled, if I were to just sit there and look at them, life would be very miserable for us,” he said during the graduation ceremony, as shared by Vok Live.

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Gyasi attributed his success to God’s intervention and encouraged students to remain devoted to their faith alongside their studies.

“There was one thing I was told I could post-qualify: divine power plus human effort equals success. So yes, you put in the effort, but without God, you are missing something. You might make the grades, but the significance won’t be felt,” he added.

He emerged as the Overall Best Graduating Student and Valedictorian of the KNUST College of Health Sciences from the KNUST School of Public Health.

He graduated with an impressive CWA of 80.50 in the BSc Disability and Rehabilitation Studies programme.

Watch the interview below:

SB/MA

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