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Nice week for RMBS, let's "sum" it up with "sum" good laughs
A latino dude throwing his people under the truck Truly thought that stuff was funny (kernels of truth are often the funniest), it's true. A serious subject matter. "Never understood the US's fascination with guns. People argue they're for defense? The name 'assault rifle' begs to differ." As a reminder to honor the bigger picture: Many athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games had an interesting backstory, but Yusra Mardini's is more extraordinary than most. Mardini was in Rio to represent a team of 10 refugee Olympic athletes. While any other 18-year-old’s biggest achievements may be confined to the A-level results they leave school with, Mardini’s was almost incomprehensible. She and her sister are responsible for helping to save the lives of 20 people, including their own, after jumping off their sinking dinghy into the Aegean Sea to guide their boat to land. Thirty minutes after setting off from Turkey, the motor on their boat, which was meant for six people but carrying 20, began to fail. Most of those on board it could not swim. With no other alternative, Mardini, Sarah and two strong swimmers jumped into the sea and swam for three hours in open water to stop their dinghy from capsizing, eventually reaching Lesbos. “We were the only four who knew how to swim,” she said of the experience. “I had one hand with the rope attached to the boat as I moved my two legs and one arm. It was three and half hours in cold water. Your body is almost like … done. I don’t know if I can describe that.” But while she now hates open water, the memory is not a nightmare for her. “I remember that without swimming I would never be alive maybe because of the story of this boat. It’s a positive memory for me." After Lesbos, Mardini and Sarah travelled through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria before arriving at their final destination: Germany. Mardini is equally remarkable for her self-effacing attitude and resilience as she is for her life-saving act. “It's tough,” she has said. “It was really hard, for everyone, and I don't blame anyone if they cried. But sometimes you just have to move on.” Tackling the dehumanisation of refugees “I want everyone to think refugees are normal people who had their homelands and lost them not because they wanted to run away and be refugees, but because they have dreams in their lives and they had to go,” she said at a press conference announcing her place on the team. “Everything is about trying to get a new and better life and by entering the Olympics we are encouraging everyone to pursue their dreams.” She also has hopes one day that peace could be brought to fruition in Syria and she could take her story home. Heather Saul |
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