The inspiring story of Qatar’s World Cup opening ceremony star: YouTuber Ghanim Al Muftah, 20, who was born with half a body has scaled one of the Middle East’s highest mountains, is studying politics at Loughborough and dreams of becoming a Paralympian
He is the disabled Qatari YouTube sensation who had a starring role alongside Hollywood A-lister Morgan Freeman at the World Cup’s opening ceremony.
But for inspirational Ghanim Al Muftah, it was a moment that may never have happened were it not for a fateful decision taken by his parents more than two decades ago.
The 20-year-old has caudal regression syndrome (CRS), an extremely rare genetic condition which meant he was born without the lower half of his body.
When news of his condition was broken to his parents, Mohammed Al Muftah and Eman Ahmad, they faced a hellish decision: go ahead with the pregnancy and face all the uncertain surroundings of their son’s condition or to have an abortion.
The pair went through with the pregnancy and Ghanim was born on May 5, 2002, along with his twin brother Ahmad.
Since then, remarkable Ghanim has astounded those around him, scaling one of the Gulf’s tallest mountains on his hands, becoming a celebrated disabilities campaigner and amassing an army of more than three million fans on social media.
And on Sunday, with the eyes of the globe firmly on him and Morgan Freeman, Ghanim used his platform to speak about finding ‘beauty in our differences’ and he championed unity and diversity.
‘We were raised to believe that we were scattered on this Earth as nations and tribes so we could learn from each other and find beauty in our differences,’ the beaming 20-year-old told the 85-year-old during Sunday’s World Cup spectacle.
Nicknamed the ‘Qatari miracle boy’, Ghanim’s condition affects about one in 100,000 children and was given 15 years to live by his doctors when he was born.
As a boy, he struggled to find schools that would accept him because of his disability.
But the determined youngster refused to let his condition stunt his thirst for life and decided to take on a range of sports – tackling everything from scuba diving, rock climbing, football, ice hockey and swimming, to workouts in the gym and archery.
In 2017, Ghanim completed the Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah by crawling around the Ka’abah – the building at the center of Islam’s most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca in Saudi Arabia – on his hands instead of in a wheelchair.
Two years later, the inspirational teenager completed one of his most daunting physical challenges yet, climbing the 9,827ft tall Jebel Shams mountain, one of the highest in the Arabian Peninsula.
As well as his physical exploits, Ghanim has also spearheaded his own charity to help other disabled children.
Supported by his family, he founded the Ghanim al-Muftah Association for Wheelchairs from his home.
‘I care about others – I consider it a humanitarian and moral duty,’ he said as a 13-year-old when speaking to the Paralympics ahead of the Paralympic World Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar in 2015.
In the same year, he was chosen as the ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ of Reach Out To Asia’s (ROTA) ‘Empowering Palestinian Refugee Children and Youth through Sports in Lebanon’.
The teenager visited a Palestinian Refugee Camp in Nahr El Bared, Lebanon, where he launched a new sports centre to help 5,000 children.
He and his parents also started the ‘Be Positive Project’ to help coach disabled children.
The young activist also has ambitions of one day become a Paralympian, and has met Paralympic Skiing champion Tyler Walker, who flew out to Qatar several times to show Ghanim that ‘there are people who are world champions with my disability’.
Tyler, who was born with lumbar sacral agenesis, a condition that resulted in his spine missing after the first vertebra and is a two-time silver medalist, also introduced Ghanim to ice hockey.
Most recently, Ghanim has taken to the skies in a parascender and hopes to one day bag his own pilot’s license.
His sporting exploits, alongside his charity work and social media following, led to the 20-year-old being selected as an official ‘ambassador’ of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – rubbing shoulders with the likes of England legend, David Beckham.
As well as aiming to break down barriers still facing disabled people, Ghanim also has lofty ambitions of one day becoming a diplomat.
He flew across from Qatar to the UK to study politics at Loughborough University, in Leicestershire, where he has become a popular figure on the campus, skating between seminars and lectures on his skateboard.
And he spoken out about his future ambitions on the university’s website, saying: ‘Today, many of the world’s one billion disabled women and men still struggle to overcome barriers blocking their human rights and inclusion in societies.
‘Despite existing legal frameworks at the international, national and local levels, millions of disabled people remain marginalized, lacking access to work, fair treatment and basic services such as health care and education.
‘In my future I pledge to always support efforts to raise awareness and advocate for the importance of including a disability perspective in the political discussions.
‘I hope to help raise public awareness on disability rights; foster respect for disabled persons and though the process promotes more inclusive and tolerant societies.’
Speaking of his role at the World Cup, the 20-year-old added: ‘Within my capacities as a [Fifa World Cup] ambassador, I want to send a message of hope, inclusivity, peace, and unity for humanity.’
During his moment in the spotlight at the World Cup’s opening, Ghanim spoke alongside Mr Freeman, telling the actor ‘everyone is welcome’ at the Qatar games and that it was an ‘invitation for the whole world’.
‘We were raised to believe that we were scattered on this Earth as nations and tribes so we could learn from each other and find beauty in our differences,’ he said.
‘I can see it,’ replied the Shawshank Redemption star. ‘What unites us here in this moment is so much greater than what divides us. How can we make it last longer than just today?’
‘With tolerance and perspective,’ said Ghanim. ‘We can live together under one big home… wherever it is built, that is home. And when we call you here, we welcome you into our home.’
He is also known for his motivational speeches and social media presence, featuring on TEDxQatarUniversity in 2018, aged 16, to talk about his condition, caudal regression syndrome.
The young man, who has more than 3.4million followers on Instagram, was also named ‘Ambassador of Peace’ by H.H the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in 2014.
