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Outlook: The medical textbook that inspired me to flee my homeland

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The medical textbook that inspired me to flee my homeland

04/11/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, The medical textbook that inspired me to flee my homeland

Waheed Arian left war-torn Afghanistan to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor

Waheed Arian was living in a refugee camp in Pakistan when he contracted TB. During his treatment, he decided he wanted to become a doctor, so aged 15 he left, alone, for the UK.

Dr Waheed Arian spent his early childhood in Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan conflict. He and his family would often hide in cellars to escape the fighting and they were soon forced to flee to a refugee camp in Pakistan. He contracted tuberculosis and during his treatment was inspired by a doctor who gave him his first ever medical textbook and a stethoscope. Aged 15, he arrived alone in the UK and worked three jobs while studying. His hard work earned him a place to study medicine at Cambridge University, but his ambitions hung in the balance as the trauma and memories of his early life came back to haunt him. He's written a book about his life called In the Wars and his charity is called Arian Teleheal.

Precious objects or artworks are at risk of theft, vandalism, even terror attacks in some cases. Protecting them is quite a task. Outlook's Alessia Cerantola went to meet one of the people doing just that - an Italian man called Alessandro Goppion who's been given the job of protecting some of the most valuable objects in the world, including the Mona Lisa painting. This report was first broadcast in February 2018.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam

Picture: Dr Waheed Arian 
Credit: Dr Waheed Arian

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