A Syrian refugee who lost his eyesight in a bomb blast while trying to escape his country’s civil war has now graduated from the University of Bristol.

Maher Fattouh was 21-years-old when he was caught in a car bomb explosion while trying to cross the border into Lebanon to avoid being conscripted into military service for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in 2014.

But despite the efforts of medics at a Red Cross field hospital in Lebanon, doctors confirmed the full-time footballer would never see again.

Maher, from Damascus, had no qualifications and could not speak English – but despite the immense challenges, he decided to make a new life for himself.

He worked hard to find study materials and would pay a friend to read entire books to him. Maher then began teaching other visually impaired people and within four years of the explosion, he had received his high school diploma.

He then earned a scholarship to one of Lebanon’s top universities and by 2022, he had received an English teaching qualification from the University of Cambridge.

The following year, he received another scholarship – which would allow him to study for a psychology of education master’s at the University of Bristol. It meant Maher needed to travel to the UK alone.

“For most people, putting on clothes and going to university is easy, but for me it was a project,” Maher 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.”

Maher Fattouh made a speech at his graduation about how far he has come to graduate. Credit: University of Bristol.

He used apps and tech like screen readers to help him study for his master’s and move around the city independently – though sometimes he would fall or hurt himself.

Maher said: “I insist on living like everything else. Even if I fall, nothing will stop me from going out.

“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.”

Maher has received his master’s and made a speech about the immense journey he has undertaken to get to this point during his graduation.

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.

Maher Fattouh originally spoke no English and had no qualifications – and then he lost his eyesight due to a car bomb. Credit: University of Bristol.

“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, the university’s vice-chancellor conducted the ceremony.

She 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.”

Now 32, Maher has not been back to his homeland in more than a decade. Last year, Assad was deposed in Syria and replaced by interim leaders. He hopes the change of government may allow him to return once more, so he can visit his family, who mostly still live in Damascus.