A story and not just a winning photo
The above picture is the winning entry at SIENA INTERNATIONAL PHOTO AWARDS 2021. This is a photo that I have watched multiple times. I feel sad and inspire happiness, at the same time. I wanted to explore the story behind this photo.
Why do I want to know the story?
When I looked at this photo, I was fascinated by the sadness and positivity that it instills in the observer. The man is standing on his only foot, with a boy without the limbs. I was tempted to learn more. And this is what I have learned!
The story
This is a picture of a father and a son. The man shown in this picture is Munzir. The boy's name is Mustafa. Munzir lost one of his legs due to the bomb injuries, which was dropped on a Bazaar(market) in Idlib, Syria. At the same time, his wife Zeynep was pregnant. She was also exposed to the nerve gas used in the Syrian war. Due to her medications, their son Mustafa was born with a rare condition called tetra-amelia.
Tetra-amelia syndrome is a very rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs
So it was not just by chance that Mustafa was born with this rare disease. He was affected by the war even before he arrived in this world. The family is now living in Turkey.
