Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska,  Agency: Newsflash

The mother of the disabled ‘Rwandan Tarzan’ who hit the headlines for being raised in a jungle, eating grass and running for hours on end has been gifted with a three-bedroom house and cash in the bank.

Zanziman Ellie, who is non-verbal and apparently suffers with a mental disorder, made headlines around the world at the end of 2020 following a viral YouTube video released by Afrimax TV.

Zanziman’s story reached millions of people online, who were touched by the Rwandan Tarzan’s situation and praised the mother for the strength she showed surviving in extreme poverty.

The young man was raised in a jungle in Rwanda in East Africa and his mother said he likes to eat grass and run for hours on end.

Zanziman was born in 1997 after his mother lost her first five children. She said he was the answer to her prayers after giving up hope of ever having children.

She said she even begged God for a child even if it meant they were disabled.

Zanziman’s mother knew her son was different immediately after birth because he had an abnormally small head and unusual facial features.

Sadly, she said she also became a widow just days after Zanziman’s birth.

Due to his appearance and non-communication, Zanziman was the target of bullying in his jungle village his entire life, with his peers often calling him a monkey or an ape.

The so-called ‘jungle boy’ has never been to school due to having learning difficulties and is not able to speak or properly communicate with other people.

The boy’s mother said in an interview that she has to chase after him every evening to bring him home as he spends all day running through the jungle for hours on end, sometimes covering up to 230 kilometres (143 miles) in a week.

Baring all the misfortunes that life has given her, Ellie’s mother has lovingly cared for her son all these years, but her circumstances worsened and she found it hard to feed the family.

For this reason, a GoFundMe fundraiser was started by Afrimax to help the family.

According to local media, Afrimax has now managed to buy the family a furnished three-bedroom home, put some cash in the bank, and even gift them with a cow to provide milk for the young man.

In response to the incredible efforts of Afrimax, the mother said it was the happiest moment of her life and that she was shocked by the gesture.