She gave up her son - to save his life.

The most poignant story we heard this Mother’s Day.

Wesley Koni is incredibly lucky to be alive. At one point, it wasn’t obvious whether he’d make it or not.

But his survival can be attributed to the gut-wrenching decision his mother made to let him go — a decision that would stop her seeing her son Wesley for 22 years.

In 1993, when he was just a toddler, Wesley sustained a horrific burn to his face, arms and chest when he fell into a fire at his family’s grass-hut home in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Following the horrifying incident, his head and the right side of his body fused together.

When the Salvation Army found out about his extraordinary case two years later, they flew him from his remote village of Onamuga to Melbourne to meet with a plastic surgeon, Dr Malcolm Linsell.

Dr Linsell described the little boy’s injuries in starkly clear terms.

“The right side of his face was obliterated, his mouth is really attached to his chest, about the level of the left armpit,” he said. “When I first saw him I really thought, “My God what am I going to do here? I had to cut his neck open.”

And so begun a series of painstaking surgeries that ultimately saved Wesley’s life.

“The (first) operation went as well as could have been expected. We hadn’t done any harm and he was alive. That was immensely satisfying,” Dr Linsell said. “He knew I represented pain but also some hope for something moving forward.”

While his father was allowed to come and bring him to the initial operations, the rest of his family remained behind in PNG. And while his stay in Australia wasn’t initially expected to take long, Wesley ended up receiving 30 major operations over 22 years — all of which prevented him from returning to his homeland to find his mother.

The Salvos rallied together to pay for his care and schooling in Australia. But Wesley was still different and an easy target for the bullies in the western Sydney suburb where he lived, who called him “half boy” or “the boy with only half a face”.

“Sometimes they make fun, and I just had to get over it. I remember they used to call me half-boy. I’d always just stay back in the shadows,” said Wesley.

Finally, after the pain, the hurt and the loneliness, Wesley got to go home this year, with the help of Channel 9.

During last night’s reunion special on 60 Minutes, Channel 9 reporter and TV host Karl Stefanovic asked Wesley how he felt on the helicopter ride over.

“Nervous but really excited, can’t wait to see mum and dad, brother and sisters,” he responded.

When he finally touched down, his mother reached for him – and wouldn’t let him go.

Wesley now works as an officer in south-west Sydney for Salvation Army — the organisation that saved his life.

And while he clearly feels an allegiance to that organisation, there’s nothing like being back in your mother’s arms.

In fact, Wesley had just three words to describe the feeling:

“Home, sweet home.”

The full story aired on 60 Minutes on Channel Nine on Sunday night.

Do you have a story to share? Email news@mamamia.com.au

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