Abdul Musa Adam // Sunday Times Magazine

The Sudanese refugee has survived war, extermination of his village and torture, and is rebuilding his life as a stable lad at one of the top flat racing yards in England. Abdul was raised by a tribe of nomads in Darfur. When he was just 7 years old, the Sudanese army killed his entire family and burnt his home to the ground, After escaping by donkey with his 3-year old brother Yusuf, the pair survived refugee camps in Chad and then in Libya, he tried to find work aged 12. Parted from his sole surviving relative, he was captured by Colonel Gadaffi’s forces and after refusing to join his ‘child army,’ was imprisoned and tortured.

A ‘Guardian Angel’ Russian doctor helped him by disguising him as a hospital cleaner and smuggled him out via a bin and in the boot of a car, Musa Adam travelled to France aged 13. He thought he would be safe there, but ended up sleeping in industrial bins to keep warm. With no identification papers, this teenage refugee struggled for 18 months, but after being discovered by a man in a church named Antonio. Antonio ultimately helped Musa Adam in his successful attempt to smuggle himself to Britain in the wheel arch of a lorry.

 Believing he was going to “England [a place that] means peaceful, you can study, you can improve your life,” the youngster spent what must have been a terrifying 15 hours in the most perilous of conditions. He ended up “dumped at a petrol station” near Swindon in Wiltshire and was picked up by the police. Here, granted asylum as a refugee and with the help of Social Services and then Greatwood, “a charity which uses horses to help young people facing difficulties and challenges,” Musa Adam was provided with assistance and ultimately a foster home. His “childhood passion for horses” was reignited whilst recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a “most remarkable journey in sport” commenced.