Mahomed enjoys a broad range of pastimes – walking in nature, both here in the UK and abroad, listening to the cricket, and going to the mosque. Mahomed played cricket at a high level until a couple of years ago – he was in the England blind cricket team, which took him to South Africa and Australia. At the moment though, his life is rather dominated by the recent arrival of a baby daughter!
Mahomed knows he is lucky to have been able to travel, which he feels has given him a lot – “you learn about the lives of other people, and you also get the opportunity to appreciate what you have.” He is very fond of Zimbabwe, having visited relatives there several times. As well as enjoying the national parks with its amazing animals, a particular high point for Mahomed is the Zimbabwe barbeque “it’s like the best beef known to man!” he says. Mahomed went last year to Malaysia with his family and was blown away by the country. As he says, “the people are super friendly, it’s a very spiritual place, there’s lots of good street food, and there’s something for everyone.”
Though, as he says, you don’t have to travel globally to enjoy being active, making the most of life, or challenging yourself as a disabled person – Mahomed runs locally in Saturday Park runs, running with trained guide runners. He also enjoys going for a walk using his guide dog and having a nice takeaway or meal in a restaurant. He firmly believes that “there’s something for everyone to enjoy out there, and it’s just a matter of finding it”.
Mahomed is very proud of overcoming the loss of his sight as a teenager. He had retinal detachment issues from around the age of eight, losing the sight in one eye at that time. Then he lost the sight in his other eye when he was sixteen. While it was undeniably upsetting at the time, Mahomed is justly proud of what he has achieved since then. He did well at school and went to university, travelled extensively, worked in a range of interesting roles, got married, and is now the proud dad of a baby daughter. As Mahomed says “the fact that through your sight loss you’ve actually had all these wonderful opportunities, all these other things you’ve done, is a real blessing.”
Looking to the future, Mahomed hopes ultimately to set up a charity supporting people with disabilities and orphans, most likely starting in India. He wants to give people with disabilities a better life, all around the world. Ever since he lost his sight, he’s been very aware of the injustices that people face and wants to have a positive impact on their lives.
