Young Syrian shoe polisher offered lifetime gym membership in Turkey’s east
ADIYAMAN
A 12-year-old Syrian boy who works as a shoe polisher has been given a lifetime membership at a gym in Turkey’s southeastern province of Adıyaman, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 9.
Muhammet Halit, a young Syrian who fled the war in his country, has recently become a topic of discussion due to a picture of him that has gone viral on social media, showing him gazing inside a gym from the window with his shoe polishing materials in hand.
The gym had then decided to offer him a lifetime membership as soon as the owner of the facility saw the picture, envying the members working out.
“A boy, looking through the gym window, wearing slippers in the middle of winter and carrying his bagpack ... Our aim was to find him and offer him a lifetime membership here,” said Engin Doğan, the owner of the gym.
“And, we did it. He is one of our members now,” Doğan added.
Halit sounded very pleased with the offer when talking to reporters.
“He found me and helped me,” the teenager said.
“I had always dreamed of losing weight and now I believe I can do that by working out,” added Halit.
