[ Somar ]I was discharged from hospital 60 days after being wounded.
70 days later, I began driving my and my brother's car.
Another car, not this one.
I tried driving but wasn't very good at first.
I even hit something, damaging the car a little.
That frightened us but still, I carried on.
I really wanted to drive.
If a wounded man believes he can't do something, that's a disability.
Disability is in the mind. There's no such thing as bodily disability.
My wound doesn't change anything. Anyone can die in a war.
More so now we're in crisis and war is on every corner.
Anyone might walk down a street and be killed.
War's not just for soldiers,
civilians die too;
there's shooting, bombing and mined cars everywhere.
My wound means nothing.
I'm proud of it.
I'm Somar Fauzi Al Amuri.
I'm a soldier in the Syrian Arab Army
I served in the suburbs of Damascus,
in Dummar suburb.
I was on guard near a desolate stone house.
There was a metal water tank nearby.
Suddenly, it exploded and I was knocked out.
After a while, I looked over to my right
and saw a leg lying nearby.
It was mine, I knew it from the size 45 boot.
It was strange, I felt no pain, I felt nothing at all.
If a hundred bullets had hit me, I wouldn't have felt a thing.
Sweat was pouring off me as if I had a 60-degree temperature.
I tried to count my fingers and failed, they'd gone.
I realised my right hand had only two fingers and I'd lost an arm and a leg.
I was evacuated to hospital.
Lying on a stretcher, I looked around and saw other soldiers,
one had lost a leg, another an arm.
That's when it hit me;
I'd lost an arm and a leg - this was no joke.
Now, I'm working as a taxi driver.
- How are you? - Well thank God.
- Where to? - Al-Zahraa.
What happened to you?
I was wounded in the war.
- God grant you health. - Thank you.
Now it's not so hard but people are still surprised that I drive!
It's simple: no fear and I believe in myself.
Believe in and love what you do and it'll be fine.
Thank God I have no fear, I see no problems.
Actually, I drive better than many.
Others may not agree but I do drive well.
All the best!
- Are you free? - Sure, hop in!
- To Mohammed Khadr Street, please. - Got it.
Now, he's sure to say,
'How can you drive a car? You're wounded!'
- That's how I work! - God grant you health.
Thank you.
- Do the police bother you? - What police?
- Traffic cops. - I rely on God!
Good luck then.
We're here!
Thanks.
How much is that?
300, brother.
Your change.
- Thanks. - You're welcome!
Disabled people shouldn’t give up.
How do I live if I stop driving to earn money? Who'd give me money?
That doesn't happen,
that's why I drive, even with no license.
[ Mother ]He's asking us for a better car.
I say, 'get married first'.
Hello.
How are you?
This is my mother.
He helps with everything.
He makes money, helps with chores, buys things,
whatever we ask.
[ Somar ]Every Friday, we visit fellow soldiers who've been wounded.
Friday is a sacred day when we must do good and virtuous things.
By visiting wounded soldiers every Friday, we do a doubly good thing.
Welcome. We've arrived.
Are they from the Veterans' Association?
I'm very glad that today
we're visiting our fellow wounded soldiers.
They are true heroes.
They fought and keep on fighting,
they live and are happy to be alive.
We're happy to see them too.
[ Ahmed ]It's not just us,
Russia too takes pride in our victories,
they too have suffered losses and wounds.
They fight with us and share our grief.
[ Maisam ]I don't often get to talk to other wounded soldiers.
I recently married,
life doesn't stop when you're wounded.
In my dreams,
I often see armed people creeping up behind me,
they're preparing to shoot. I shout out,
'No! Shoot where you want, my head or anywhere, but not my back!'
We were in an area with no trees, nothing.
We ran into snipers, in Drusha.
In Drusha, there were only buildings on one side,
and on the other was the field we had to cross.
Snipers started shooting,
so we lay on the ground to radio for tank cover.
Suddenly, I cried out in pain. Another soldier cried out, too.
I was surprised: was he wounded and in pain?
Then something happened to me,
like a current running along my legs.
That's when I realised the other guy was shouting because I was wounded.
Before I was wounded, I was engaged to a girl.
I loved her,
even though she's my uncle's daughter.
I formally asked for her hand in marriage
and my uncle agreed.
So, thank Allah, as they say,
I found my better half.
[ Ruan ]Thank Allah I married him.
I can't even imagine him marrying anyone else.
After he was wounded, he said he'd leave me,
but I said, that was impossible, I wouldn't leave him.
[ Maisam ]Usually, if a man wants to express himself,
he'll often write things down on paper or on a wall.
Maybe some favourite sayings
about life or love for example.
At first, I just painted a symbol of my beloved,
the letter R, for her name... Ruan.
And later on,
I wrote to her... that I was missing her, about the sadness.
This was Maisam's gift,
for Valentine's day.
We went for a walk and he gave me perfume and this heart, it talks!
Shall we start?
This will hurt a little.
It doesn't fit.
And if I press harder?
Let it go now.
- Should I put cotton pads inside? - No!
I had the shop before getting married.
It was hard for me,
to always be stuck within these four walls.
This way, I started getting out of my home
and talking to people.
Need anything else?
Firstly, I thank God for everything.
When I meet wounded guys, to cheer them up,
I tell them: 'You will get better, just wait'.
We all lose hope, we all feel desperate,
but gradually, we still overcome the difficulties.
And only then do we realise we were luckier than some.
[ Somar ]Syrians have a saying:
the grief of others diminishes yours.
Maybe Allah gave me the strength
not to worry too much about my wounds,
but it's nice when someone wounded
is visited by friends and colleagues.
He feels they care,
his life goes on and gets back to normal.
[ Ahmed ]May God bless you.
You have suffered much, but today is for relaxing.
Today we are glad to greet our heroes.
The organisation 'Despite Our Wounds'
is comprised of your brothers,
whose serious wounds did not make invalids of them,
but only helped them to release the supreme human energy:
that of a man who is a citizen of Syria
and who loves his homeland with all his heart.
Tamim, the gas truck is here.
Ok, brother, don't be late.
[ Muhannad ]I'm Muhannad Hamzi Hamzi,
and I was wounded.
At the start of the crisis I was in a district defence squad,
a vigilante group that guarded the whole district.
One day we were coming home through Talat Rakan in El Waer...
Two armed insurgents were sitting on the ground.
I didn't expect them:
it was a calm district and the streets were empty.
They shot at me but I didn't feel anything.
I was fully equipped but suffered multiple wounds,
two in the abdomen, two in the legs.
This side was completely crushed.
They spent four months trying to save me.
I'll never forget it.
I underwent over 20 operations,
including on my abdomen and legs.
I was bedridden for three years.What about my further life – it drastically changed on 180 degrees.
My life has changed 180 degrees.
The government offered me a chance
to help with the gas situation.
I have a license for a year,
of which I've worked 9 months.
I feel almost back to normality.
Put the empty one inside, please.
This one's ours.
- And this is theirs. - Whose?
Yes, I feel back to normality.
I've started to communicate with people.
Honestly, I'm thinking of my son now.
When he goes to school,
I count down the hours before he returns.
I'm afraid of car bombs, suicide belts,
or a bomb hitting his school.
The threat is constant, no one here is fully safe.
We could be hit right now.
I hope to God that nothing happens.
Many of my friends have died.
My heart is still heavy because I wasn't able
to attend their funerals or visit their graves.
Here's Doctor Hasan Id.
They died and I couldn't fulfil my duty as a close friend,
which was a big mental strain.
Thank God, I got through it,
my health improved, and I began a new life.
I'm incredibly happy right now, honestly.
[ Somar ]Sometimes I go to the seaside to swim.
I can swim, and I like swimming a lot.
I go to the seaside with my friends not just the wounded ones,
my cousins and friends from Homs.
When I went to the water for the first time I was afraid,
but then I began to swim even better than they do.
Every 10-15 days we go to the seaside near Tartus to swim.
We get away from it all.
[ Fater ]Even after being wounded I do all the chores myself.
It isn't hard even though I lost my arm.
We have chickens, cows, sheep, land, citrus groves.
They fire off rounds in Hufeyz,
when a dead soldier is brought to the village.
I'm Fater Ruh, a Syrian Arab Army volunteer.
I served in Deir ez-Zor.
We were surrounded several times.
Thanks to Allah, we came out unscathed.
During a gunfight with the insurgents
an explosive round hit my arm,
and smashed it from elbow to wrist.
I was taken to hospital where it was amputated.
The doctor who sewed up the stump said:
'Thank God you survived.'
Thank Allah! He gave me willpower in place of my arm.
I feel happy and joyful that I eat my own produce.
I didn’t ask for it or buy in the market.
The fruits of your own labour taste better
than fruit bought at the market.
We have a lot of land, enough for everybody.
Anyone with a small piece of land, can live to 100.
There are still some ignorant fools,
who understand nothing and come to our land…
We will never accept that.
I gave my arm for my country, but I still have my spirit.
As long as I am able, I will work the land as a soldier.
I feel I'm still fighting the war.
I feel like a soldier at war.
My life didn't end when I lost my arm.
My wife is also from a village.
It's called Al-Ketbi, close to Hufeyz, on the same road.
I saw her several times before introducing myself to her parents.
Then we got married.
As for food, he can't cook for himself.
I mostly do it.
But, thank Allah, he does the rest himself.
He can dress himself and won't let me help him.
Our village, Hufeyz, is famous for its war dead.
Over 20 families have each lost two men.
The village has lost more than 500 people.
That's a lot, even on a national scale.
They all gave their lives for their homeland.
Two of my family members died.
I built this to commemorate the dead.
Not just for me but the whole village.
All I think about is being happy at the start of our married life.
If God gives us children, we will raise them well.
I'll ask them to make the insurgents pay for my arm, and wipe them out.
I'll send them all to serve in the Syrian Arab Army.