VIDEO BY SHANNON SLATTERY
Jeffrey Mayi reunites with his mother after 10 years apart.
By Thor Jourgensen
LYNN — Jeffrey Mayi and Shannon Slattery sparked an Internet sensation when she video recorded and posted online Mayi’s surprise reunion after 10 years with his African mother.
Millions of YouTube viewers have smiled, laughed and sobbed watching as Mayi walks into his East Lynn home on July 26 to find his brother, Axel, who he had not seen for several years, waiting for him. The pair laugh and embrace as Madeleine Fausther hides, smiling, out of sight until Mayi spots his mother and collapses to the floor, overcome by emotion.
“My heart almost came out of my chest,” said Fausther.
He was born in Alabama, but Mayi, 33, spent his childhood in his mother’s native Gabon, a west central African nation, and in France. He came to the U.S. 10 years ago hoping to pursue a basketball career. He played community college ball in Florida but decided he was not on the right life path.
“I wasn’t really happy. It was too easy to do the wrong thing,” he said.
He moved to the Boston area seven years ago, keeping in touch with his younger brother in Florida and contacting his mother by telephone or Skype.
Mayi said his life “took a 360 degree turn” when he met Slattery two years ago. He is now an apprentice carpenter and the couple’s son, Christian, was born last November.
The pair credit Axel, a computer studies student, with arranging Fausther’s visit, including making necessary visa arrangements. She is visiting in Lynn until September and the family has launched a GoFundMe account (gofundme.com/bringmadyhome) to help her relocate to the U.S.
Slattery said she shot the reunion video to show miracles can happen in family life and to prove “love has no boundaries.”
