The stowaway teenager who miraculously survived a five hour flight to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of a Boeing 767 was falsely told by his own father that his mother was dead – and he discovered the truth two years ago, it was claimed today. Yahya Abdi – pictured here for the first time - ran away from the home he shares with his father, stepmother and four siblings because he wanted to find his mom, who he has not seen since 2006.
Ubah Mohamed Abdullahi, 35, was left heartbroken when she split from her husband Abdulahi Abdi Yusef.
He remarried a woman called Sainab Abdi and then left with Ubah’s three children to travel to the United States.
But she is now in the process of immigrating to America and is determined to win her children back, exclusively telling MailOnline, ‘I need my children and they need me’.
Speaking through a translator from the Sheed-dheer Refugee camp in Ethiopia, she explained how her ex-husband had told her children, Yahya, Yassir and Najma she was killed in a rocket attack in Mogadishu.
Apparently Yahya only found out she was still alive two years ago, through the local Somali community.
The emotional mother said: ‘When they emigrated to the United they told the authorities I was dead.
'Then they later told my children I was killed in a rocket attack in Mogadishu. They killed me in my children’s minds. They violated me.
‘If I could give a message to my son I would say, I am still alive and I will come one day. Please stay calm and do not do anything stupid.
‘I have been so worried and upset since I heard the news, I have been crying and crying. I have not seen my children since 2006 and I miss them.
‘I am currently in the process of getting a sponsor to move to the United States. It is a long process, but I will come and I will get full custody of my children.
‘I want the American Government to look after them until I come because I do not believe they are safe with their father and their stepmother. She treats my children badly, she has her own children and she doesn’t care about mine.
‘Their rights have been violated and so have mine. I have no rights in Africa. They were taken away by force and I didn’t have anyone to help me. I need help to get them back. That is what I dream of.’
Ubah went on to voice her fears for her son’s well being. She said: ‘I am extremely worried about my son. The fact he did what he did shows he’s unhappy. I need a psychologist to help him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid and kill himself.’
And in a stinging attack on her ex-husband she said: ‘If I had the chance to speak to him I would say, "You didn’t think of their rights because of the negative emotions you have towards me. You are supposed to protect them and put them first, but you didn’t do what was best for them. Now look what has happened."’
She split from her husband in 2000 and after he remarried, she says he took them away from her and then moved to the United States in about 2006.
She hasn’t seen them since then. Yahya has several half siblings, who are allegedly treated far better than him and his full brother and sister.
On Wednesday, his father said Allah saved the boy as he spoke out for the first time. He said that he was shocked when Hawaiian authorities called him on Sunday to reveal they had found his son.
The 15-year-old was found on the tarmac in Maui after climbing into a plane at a San Jose airport and then likely passing out when it took off - surviving low oxygen levels and freezing temperatures.
'When I watched the analysis about the extraordinary and dangerous trip of my son on local TVs and that Allah had saved him, I thanked God and I was very happy,' the relieved father told VOA.
It was previously revealed that the teenager had left the home where he lived with his father and stepmother in a bid to escape to Somalia and reunite with his mother.
'He was always talking about going back to Africa, where his grandparents still live,' his father said, adding that the living conditions there did not make going back an option.
He added that his son did not receive a good education in Africa and has struggled while at school in the U.S. He said that these school problems appeared to be bothering him.
The father said his son is now recovering in a Hawaii hospital.
The teenager is ‘resting comfortably’ at a hospital in Hawaii, spokeswoman Kayla Rosenfeld of the state's Department of Human Services said in a statement.
The young Santa Clara resident is in the custody of the department's Child Welfare Services division, and officials were working to ensure his safe return to California, she said.
The teen's friends at Santa Clara High School were stunned to learn of his death-defying adventure.
‘He was kind of shy,’ Emanuael Golla told KGO-TV. ‘He really didn't speak that much. But we were all surprised about what happened. We didn't really think it was him, but we're happy to know that he's all right.’
The boy, who is originally from Somalia, enrolled in Santa Clara High only a few months ago.
On Tuesday, it emerged that the 15-year-old runaway allegedly spent up to six hours undetected at Mineta San Jose International Airport after scaling a fence at around 1am.
In San Jose, airport officials said they were reviewing how the boy slipped through security that includes video surveillance, German shepherds and Segway-riding police officers.
After taking off around 8am, the Hawaiian Airlines jet landed in Maui at 10.30am (local time) and he eventually stumbled out of his hiding place an hour later.
It emerged that he actually left the house in Santa on Friday night, meaning he was missing for around 36 hours by the time he was found on the tarmac at Maui airport, Hawaii.
Despite his lengthy absence, Santa Clara police have confirmed his family did not file a missing persons report.
According to Maui airport manager Marvin Moniz, the boy did not want to go home to his father.
'He told us that he wanted to go and live with his mother,' he said. 'He said he missed her.
'It was clear from talking to him that he was not happy and he did not want to return home. He did not get on with his stepmother and did not like living with her. He was a teenager who was upset and he was not ready to go back.'
Mr Moniz went on: 'He was very disorientated and weak. We gave him some teriyaki meatballs, rice and salad to give him some strength.
'He spoke perfect English and didn’t really have an accent, so I assume he had been in the US for a long time.
'He seemed OK physically. The only thing he complained about was that his ears hurt. He said all the noise and the vibrations had given him a really bad ringing in his ears.'
The incredible story has been met with disbelief by all those who know the teenager and his family.
Neighbour Amy McGinn told KTVU: 'They are very quiet, very private. When I heard there was an argument, that was surprising, because I never hear anything, like loud noises from the house.'
McGinn added that the boy's father drives a taxi, while the stepmother is mostly seen taking her five children to and from school.
It was not immediately clear how the boy stayed alive in the unpressurized space, where temperatures at cruising altitude can fall well below zero and the air is too thin for humans to stay conscious. An FAA study of stowaways found that some survive by going into a hibernation-like state.
The FAA says 105 stowaways have sneaked aboard 94 flights worldwide since 1947, and about one out of four survived. But agency studies say the actual numbers are probably higher, as some survivors may have escaped unnoticed, and bodies could fall into the ocean undetected.
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Poster Comment:
I suggest you US taxpayers (4um posters and lurkers) read the article to get the full gist of how your $ is being wasted by the dumb as*es in FedGovt.
"Speaking through a translator from the Sheed-dheer Refugee camp in Ethiopia, she explained how her ex-husband had told her children, Yahya, Yassir and Najma she was killed in a rocket attack in Mogadishu...But she is now in the process of immigrating to America and is determined to win her children back...‘I want the American Government to look after them until I come because I do not believe they are safe with their father and their stepmother...It was previously revealed that the teenager had left the home where he lived with his father and stepmother in a bid to escape to Somalia and reunite with his mother.[ so he stowed away on a Hawaiian Airlines flight? makes perfect sense...]...the boy's father drives a taxi, while the stepmother is mostly seen taking her five children to and from school....