Syrian who was blinded during war graduates from top UK university

A Syrian footballer who mislaid his eyesight portion fleeing his war-torn location state has graduated from assemblage successful the UK.

In 2014, Maher Fattouh, past aged 21, was caught successful a weaponry detonation arsenic helium crossed the borderline into Lebanon to debar subject work successful Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

After a week successful a Red Cross tract infirmary successful Lebanon, doctors confirmed that helium would ne'er spot again.

The full-time footballer, from Damascus, had nary qualifications and could not talk English.

But contempt these unimaginable challenges, helium created a caller beingness for himself.

He worked hard to find learning materials and would wage a person to work full books to him.

Soon, helium was teaching different visually impaired radical and successful 2018 helium received his precocious schoolhouse diploma.

Later that year, helium earned a assistance to 1 of Lebanon’s apical universities and successful 2022 helium received an English teaching qualification from the University of Cambridge.

Then, successful 2023, helium received different scholarship, this clip to survey for a science of acquisition master’s astatine the University of Bristol.

Despite not being capable to see, helium travelled to the UK connected his own.

“For astir people, putting connected apparel and going to assemblage is easy, but for maine it was a project,” Mr Fattouh said.

“Even going to the supermarket connected the different broadside of the roadworthy was a project.

“But radical are truthful benignant here: if I stopped to hold for a taxi, I’d get galore radical offering to assistance maine transverse the road.

“Bristol truly grabbed my attention. The cobbles consciousness identical to those successful aged Damascus and some are precise ancient, with tons of churches and monuments.

“I loved the people and I had a batch of other enactment from the assemblage and its disablement services.”

Mr Fattouh utilized apps and different technologies similar surface readers to assistance him survey and determination independently astir Bristol.

Sometimes helium would get mislaid oregon gaffe and wounded himself.

“But I importune connected surviving similar everything else. Even if I fall, thing volition halt maine from going out,” helium said.

Mr Fattouh said helium became determined to unrecorded his beingness to the afloat aft helium mislaid his eyesight – and helium present wants to springiness others hope.

He said: “I’d similar to amusement that a idiosyncratic with massive, monolithic challenges tin unrecorded safely and independently and execute world excellence astatine a spot similar the University of Bristol.

“I’m truly arrogant of owning my story. I lived truthful galore acheronian periods for truthful long. For a agelong clip 1 of my dreams was conscionable to unfastened a slope relationship due to the fact that I couldn’t arsenic a Syrian.”

During the graduation ceremony, Mr Fattouh made a code astir his journey, which near immoderate students successful tears.

He said: “In my assemblage the explanation of ocular impairment is simply a ‘fall into darkness’.

“It means a batch of antagonistic things: nary much football, nary much camping, nary much thing you like.

“You won’t beryllium capable to manage, you volition unrecorded babelike connected others, you whitethorn beryllium excluded, you whitethorn suffer opportunities and beingness whitethorn beryllium miserable and depressing.

“But I thought, wherefore bash I request to judge that definition, oregon that continuation of my story? Is it existent that each the happiness and meaning successful the connection are constricted to the eyesight?

“I truthful decided to disagree with that definition, and I chose an wholly antithetic scenario.”

Professor Evelyn Welch, who conducted the ceremony, said: “Maher is simply a singular antheral who has shown astonishing fortitude and resilience to execute each helium has, contempt the challenges helium has faced.

“We are arrogant to telephone him a University of Bristol graduate.”

Mr Fattouh, who is present 32, has not been backmost to Syria successful much than 10 years.

He hopes that the autumn of Assad’s authorities volition let him to instrumentality to his state and sojourn his family, astir of whom inactive unrecorded successful Damascus.