Syrian who was blinded during war graduates from top UK university
Maher Fattouh, now 32, was injured when he was caught in a bomb explosion as he crossed into Lebanon in 2014.
A Syrian footballer who lost his eyesight while fleeing his war-torn home country has graduated from university in the UK.
In 2014, Maher Fattouh, then aged 21, was caught in a bomb explosion as he crossed the border into Lebanon to avoid military service in Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
After a week in a Red Cross field hospital in Lebanon, doctors confirmed that he would never see again.
The full-time footballer, from Damascus, had no qualifications and could not speak English.
But despite these unimaginable challenges, he created a new life for himself.
He worked hard to find learning materials and would pay a friend to read entire books to him.
Soon, he was teaching other visually impaired people and in 2018 he received his high school diploma.
Later that year, he earned a scholarship to one of Lebanon’s top universities and in 2022 he received an English teaching qualification from the University of Cambridge.
Then, in 2023, he received another scholarship, this time to study for a psychology of education master’s at the University of Bristol.
Despite not being able to see, he travelled to the UK on his own.
“For most people, putting on clothes and going to university is easy, but for me it was a project,” Mr Fattouh said.
“Even going to the supermarket on the other side of the road was a project.
“But people are so kind here: if I stopped to wait for a taxi, I’d get many people offering to help me cross the road.
“Bristol really grabbed my attention. The cobbles feel identical to those in old Damascus and both are very ancient, with lots of churches and monuments.
“I loved the course and I had a lot of extra support from the university and its disability services.”
Mr Fattouh used apps and other technologies like screen readers to help him study and move independently around Bristol.
Sometimes he would get lost or slip and hurt himself.
“But I insist on living like everything else. Even if I fall, nothing will stop me from going out,” he said.
Mr Fattouh said he became determined to live his life to the full after he lost his eyesight – and he now wants to give others hope.
He said: “I’d like to show that a person with massive, massive challenges can live safely and independently and achieve academic excellence at a place like the University of Bristol.
“I’m really proud of owning my story. I lived so many dark periods for so long. For a long time one of my dreams was just to open a bank account because I couldn’t as a Syrian.”
During the graduation ceremony, Mr Fattouh made a speech about his journey, which left some students in tears.
He said: “In my community the definition of visual impairment is a ‘fall into darkness’.
“It means a lot of negative things: no more football, no more camping, no more anything you like.
“You won’t be able to manage, you will live dependent on others, you may be excluded, you may lose opportunities and life may be miserable and depressing.
“But I thought, why do I need to accept that definition, or that continuation of my story? Is it true that all the happiness and meaning in the word are limited to the eyesight?
“I therefore decided to disagree with that definition, and I chose an entirely different scenario.”
Professor Evelyn Welch, who conducted the ceremony, said: “Maher is a remarkable man who has shown amazing fortitude and resilience to achieve all he has, despite the challenges he has faced.
“We are proud to call him a University of Bristol graduate.”
Mr Fattouh, who is now 32, has not been back to Syria in more than 10 years.
He hopes that the fall of Assad’s regime will allow him to return to his country and visit his family, most of whom still live in Damascus.
