From Tragedy to Triumph: Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez’s Journey from Chimpanzee Attack Survivor to Wrestling Champion

After Surviving a Brutal Attack in the Congo, Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez Found a New Life, a Loving Family, and a Path to Wrestling Greatness in New York

Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez from Long Beach wrestles Cooper Merli from Newburgh Free Academy in the 116-pound Division I championship match at the NYSPHSAA Boys Wrestling Championships at MVP Arena in Albany on Saturday, March 1, 2025. / John Meore/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez story is one of courage, overcoming adversity, sheer individual determination, and will. But there is no telling of this story without the strength of one family’s empathy, care and compassion.

This story begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014 when three young boys, six-year old Dunia along with his brother and a cousin, wandered from their village into a nearby Virunga National Park. It was there that the three boys were viciously attacked by a group of chimpanzees, a not an uncommon occurrence in this area as the monkeys’ living space had been encroached by nearby construction.

Dunia was the lone survivor of the attack. But his face was brutally torn apart, leaving permanent scars that required 15 surgeries, with undoubtedly more surgeries to come in the coming years as he continues to grow.

“The first time I saw my face, it was shocking,” said Dunia in a 2023 segment produced by ESPN. “I was being called names, I was just being mistreated.”

As a result, he became rejected and totally isolated from those in his age group and the community around him. His mother had died, his father was unemployed, and so he was effectively living on the streets. But hope and help would soon be on the way as in December, 2015, when Virunga Park Chief officials Warden Emmanuel de Marode helped arrange for Dunia to be part of a Long Island, New York-based, non-profit surgical care program, located some 6,800 miles away.

It was at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital where a team of surgeons began working on Dunia’s face. At the time, Dunia spoke only Swahili and left behind his father and older brother. He was missing his upper and lower lip, a lot of facial musculature, and part of his cheek. Part of his right ear had been bitten off and he had lost his left middle finger from a bite wound as well.

The late renowned anthropologist Richard Leakey, who served as the chair of the Turkana Basin Institute, established a connection with his friend, Dr. Alexander Dagum, who holds the position of executive vice chair of surgery and chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stony Brook Medicine. Leakey also engaged in discussions regarding Sibomana’s case with Dr. Leon Klempner, who was then an associate professor of dentistry at the Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine and the founder of the nonprofit organization Smile Rescue Fund for Kids.

The non-for-profit Smile Rescue Fund for Kids identifies children in resource-poor countries who need facial or cranial surgeries, and performs these procedures at no charge. Dr. Dagum performed the initial surgery, transplanting tissue and muscle from Dunia's left forearm to recreate his lips while Dr. Klempner took the lead on the dentistry end.

With the help of multiple foster families, Dunia learned English and was eventually introduced to Long Beach High School assistant wrestling coach Migel Rodriguez and his then fiancé Marissa Carruci. It was an encounter that would change each of their lives.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Rodriguez in the ESPN segment. “He was hyper but he was cute. He had 56 staples in his face, hundreds of stitches. And not one complaint – never. He never ever complained about anything.”

“The first time that I saw Dunia I just instantly fell in love,” Marissa said. “We didn’t know what the future would hold but I knew that he was going to be a part of this family”.

Dunia with his adopted mother, Marissa. / Photo courtesy of eltiempolatino.com.

Miguel and Marissa married in the summer of 2017, and would soon become the fourth and final foster family to care for Dunia. It wouldn’t be long before Dunia was introduced to another member of the Rodriguez family – wrestling.

“I soon became pretty good at the sport,” Dunia said. “So we started going to local youth tournaments. And I just started getting better and better.”

“Once he found wrestling, he found his confidence,” said Marissa. “He started walking differently. He started smiling differently.”

The Rodriguez’s eventually adopted Dunia, who became a permanent U.S. resident in 2019.

Meanwhile on the mat, Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez, was nothing short of a wrestling revelation. As an eighth grader in 2022, he qualified for the NYSPHSAA Championships in Albany. And he wound up winning the state 102-pound title, an unheard of accomplishment for a 14-year old.

In the 2023 NY State Championships as a freshman, competing for Long Beach High School, Sibomana-Rodriguez would lose in the 110-pound state semifinals to finish in third place. The following year, as a sophomore in 2024, he would finish second in the states.

State champion Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez of Long Beach! pic.twitter.com/7an1fqua10

— Gregg Sarra (@Gregg_Sarra) March 2, 2025

Then, earlier this month, his junior season would again end in ultimate triumph as he claimed his second New York State Championship, this time in the 116-pound division. In the championship bout, Dunia pinned two-time defending state champion Cooper Merli, who hadn't allowed a point in three matches in the tournament - until the final.

All told, Sibomana-Rodriguez will take a staggering 139-14 (.908) career record into his senior year of 2025-26.

In addition to his high school accomplishments, which includes being ranked 13th in the High School On SI 113-pound rankings, Sibomana-Rodriguez is also a fixture on the national scene and was a member of the 2024 Men’s Freestyle USA Junior National Team.

In the fall, “King Dunia,” as he’s known in Long Island wrestling circles, made headlines again, this time for committing to wrestle at the University of North Carolina.

“This is my dream school, and I’ve worked really hard toward a college opportunity,” said Sibomana-Rodriguez in a feature story that appears on the New York Plastic Surgical Group website. “I just felt right when I visited the school. The coach was just great, and I felt right at home in North Carolina. It’s where I want to spend the next four or five years of my life. I am blessed to be where I am in my life. I wouldn’t be here without my family and coaches.”

It boggles the mind to see where Dunia came from, has overcome, and is today.

“I see him as a hero,” says Marissa. “A champion. Someone who came through a lot of adversity. And I see a fighter. I see a survivor. I see a miracle.”