“This is my incredible story.” In 2015, Ghanim Al Muftah, then 13, tells the YouTube channel of the Paralympic Games how he was born with a rare medical condition: caudal regression syndrome. “Instead of letting this condition hinder my life, I have learned to overcome obstacles.”
Al Muftah is now 20 years old and has his own YouTube channel with 816,000 subscribers. He is also very popular on Instagram with more than 3 million followers. And now millions of people worldwide have also seen him from their own living room, live on TV during the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar. Together with actor Morgan Freeman, Al Muftah addressed the stadium. But who is the boy?
Ice cream seller
Al Muftah’s life story is inspiring to say the least. He is not discouraged by his serious handicap, on the contrary: it seems to be his greatest motivation. The Qatari turns out to be an ambitious athlete and a successful entrepreneur. He is the founder of Gharissa Ice Cream, a company with six locations and sixty employees that sells ice cream and delivers it at home. His goal is to turn it into a global franchise.
Despite his disability, he takes his sporting hobbies very seriously: Al Muftah swims, dives, plays football and skateboards. He also climbed Djabal Shams, the highest mountain of the Hajar Mountains in Oman.
Motivational speaker
Al Muftah is regularly asked to give speeches and so-called ‘motivational speeches’. In it he tells about his life story and motivations. An important role in that story is reserved for his mother, whom Al Muftah describes as his driving force. She says she taught him to stay positive. “She showed that life is beautiful and that nothing is impossible.”
