A Syrian man who lost his hand as a teenager in a terrible industrial accident has opened up about how he has rebuilt his life as a gamer and YouTuber with the support of the gaming community.

In 2017, due to the unfortunate events unfolding in Syria, Ahmed Maher Bakir was forced to move to Turkey to take up a job in a plastic factory.

Ahmed was 17 years old when a machine malfunctioned in the factory and fell on his left hand, crushing it on impact.

Speaking about the incident, Ahmed said: “I was devastated and heartbroken when I lost my left hand. I was frustrated and extremely annoyed at not being able to do anything on my own. But over time, I realised that there are others that have it worse than I do, and that I should be grateful that I have friends and family who continue to support me.”

After the initial recovery, Ahmed took to playing Free Fire after having seen his friends play the game.

Reflecting on how he got into Free Fire, Ahmed said: “I got excited watching my friends play the game and watching online videos about Free Fire. I started playing the game on my low-spec phone but it was challenging in the beginning as it was tough to manage the controls with just one hand. But I patiently kept on trying until I got the victory 'Booyah' after 3 long months.”

Realising his passion for the game and inspired by other Free Fire YouTubers, Ahmed started his own YouTube channel in November 2019.

“Not only did I receive support from my friends and family, I also received encouragement from other established YouTubers. They were surprised that I was playing the game well with just one hand and started to support my YouTube channel,” he said about the support he received.

Ahmed has connected with other Syrian Free Fire gamers and YouTubers like Mokafaha, M7MAD playz, TG Hamzeh, and Hydronz.

Within this short period, Ahmed has posted over 70 videos and has over half a million views for his videos combined. He is widely known in the gaming community as the one-handed gamer and he has also collaborated with other popular Free Fire YouTubers like  Muhtrif Algamer, Mokafaha LB’s legend, WASSIMOS, HIROSHIMA YT, M8N and M7mad Playz.

“The Free Fire gaming community is very strong and we all make sure we support each other whenever needed,” he said about the virtual community.

Ahmed, who is now an undisputed star in the gaming community, plans to use his YouTube channel to help others in his situation.

“I’m not only focused at improving at the game and increasing my YouTube channel size, but also to help others. I want to be a role model for those with issues similar to mine. I want to inspire and encourage them to pursue their dreams and never give up on achieving their goals. I want to help them have their 'Booyah' moment in life because if I can, so can they”.