05.17.2026 My Mother Died of Hypertension. I Want Others to Have a Better Chance. The Nigeria Hypertension Control Initiative is helping rewrite the future for thousands of Nigerians. Project HOPE program officer Dr. Adanna Egwu shares a personal story of preventable loss and the lifesaving potential of NHCI. By Dr. Adanna Egwu I’m on a flight to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, crammed into an economy seat, 26,000 feet above sea level, crying in front of strangers. No shame left in me, just tears. The man beside me keeps glancing over, curious, maybe uncomfortable, trying to make sense of why a grown woman is quietly falling apart midair. I can’t even explain it to myself. All I know is that something in me cracked this week. Life got strange, heavy, and unrecognizable. And now I’m here, floating above the world, trying not to come undone. Dr. Egwu’s mother, Selina Elewechi Egwu. My mother died from a hypertension complication. Just like that — one day she was here, the next she wasn’t.…