Mardin’s Story

My name is Mardin, and I am 25 years old. I am from Iraq. I studied a bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering with a first-class degree in Iraq. I came to the UK in January 2019 to study my masters at Teesside university. In June 2020, I finished my masters degree with distinction. I then received a fees-only scholarship to study for a PhD at Teesside University and started that in October 2020.

I was born with severe Haemophilia A, and “I see haemophilia as a part of myself when I look at it. There’s no way I’m going to get around it. So, I will deal with it. I won’t let it define who I am”.

I grew up facing many hardships due to my condition; I had severe pain, bleeding and discomfort in my knees, elbows, ankle and other joints in my body. But these difficulties did not come in the way of my accomplishments and made my desire a lot stronger to achieve my goals.

Since I came to the UK, I’m on prophylaxes treatment, and my disorder is under control compared to the past; and I did surgery on my left knee last year in December.

During this lockdown, I finished my masters with flying colours, successfully enrolled on my fees-only PhD programme and went through surgery myself in a foreign country without my family around me during this period.

This lockdown has taught me always to have a positive outlook on life and not to shift focus from my ultimate goal under any circumstances.

Lastly, I want to thank my university for providing me with the necessary resources that helped my academic career and all the staff, doctors, and nurses part of the NHS to take excellent care of me and make me feel comfortable and last but not least I would like to thank the Almighty God for giving me such loving and supportive parents.