Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus, defying the Syrian regime with his music.

It’s early 2014, seven months into President Assad’s siege of the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk. Starving and desperate in the ruins and rubble, Aeham has started a children’s choir and dragged his piano into the street. But the joy his music brings to the residents of Yarmouk is about to be shattered by a sniper’s bullet.

And news that in normal times would be a cause for celebration, adds another layer of anxiety to Aeham’s life:

"One day, Tahani had to sit down suddenly. She was feeling dizzy. She told me she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was pregnant. She went to see a midwife, who confirmed it. Tahani was overjoyed. And I was, too. But my doubts grew. We were starving. How could a baby grow on our diet of lentils, boiled clover and the odd glass of powdered milk?"

Aeham and Tahani’s first child had been born by Caesarian Section and they knew this baby would have to be delivered the same way.

"With each passing day, one particular question became ever more pressing: Where could she go for her delivery? We asked at the makeshift field hospital in al-Hajar al-Aswad. They had no antibiotics or anaesthetic. The regime hadn’t just cut off our food supply, but our medical supply as well."

The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.

Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 Show less