In the onset of the Syrian civil war in August 2015, Yusra Mardini and her sister fled Damascus and traveled through Lebanon and Turkey before attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Greece.
The two along with 18 other people set out to the sea in a dinghy, in a desperate attempt to reach for safety. Trouble was around the corner as the motor in the vessel failed and the refugees were stranded in the middle. This is when Mardiny, her sister and another person jumped out and pushed the dinghy all the way to the shore, saving everyone’s life.
This brave woman will now be competing in Rio Olympics as part of the first ever Refugee Olympic Team
International Olympic Committee set up the refugee olympic team (a 10 member squad) so that the athletes who have been affected by the recent global refugee crisis could compete in the games.
“When I was in the water there was fear. You don’t know whether you are going to live or die,” she said in an interview with International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“When I was swimming for my life, I never would have believed I would be where I am now,” she said.
It was no ordinary swim
The two sisters initially thought of saving themselves but then the boat capsized and none of the others knew how to swim. Mardini felt responsible for all the people and she could not just let them drown.
She had to fight against exhaustion and freezing temperatures, she could not open her eyes because of the saline water. Against all odds, she managed reach Greek islands in the middle of the night. Nothing short of a hero, she saved everyone in that boat.
The 18 year old has three dreams: “I hope that they will open the borders for refugees, and I hope to get a medal in the Olympics, and that my hometown is in peace again.”
