AN Emotional Akanisi Raici couldn’t stop her tears from flowing when she was queried about her son.

Her youngest of five sons, Samuela Nabenia is part of the national football team to the Rio Olympics.

Raici along with the rest of her family travelled to the airport last week to wish her son well on what is his biggest tournament.

“I just want to thank the Lord that he has provided my son with the strength enough to lead him here for he alone provides for us,” she said.

Raici said Nabenia being the youngest in the family, the passing of her husband back in 2007 was the hardest on him.

“He lost his father at a really young age. He is 21 now and so for almost a decade, he has had to live without a father-figure but I am grateful for the providence of the Lord in his life. This is something neither of us as a family had dreamt of and I’m glad that my son has reached this stage,” she said.

Nabenia is the younger brother of national representative Malakai Tiwa. Raici said her sons had always been determined as children and she was happy to see them accomplish their dreams.