Shoeshiner gets lifetime gym membership after picture goes viral

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Shoeshiner gets lifetime gym membership after picture goes viral

The15-year-old boy was gifted free lifetime gym membership after a massive online hunt to trace him.

By Web Report

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Published: Wed 10 Jan 2018, 9:40 AM

Last updated: Wed 10 Jan 2018, 7:24 PM

A 15-year-old Syrian shoe shiner was gifted free gym membership for life after a picture of him gazing a fitness centre in Turkey went viral.
Muhammad Hussein was pictured standing outside the Olimpiyat Spor gym in Adiyaman, southeast Turkey, carrying his shoeshine stand. The touching picture depicting the young boy's yearning led the gym's owners to look for the boy and they decided to share the photo online.
As Hussein was pictured standing with his back turned, his face was not visible, making it a difficult task to trace him down.
A massive online hunt followed to identify the boy in the picture and the image was shared thousands of times on social media by users in Turkey and around the world.
Soon Muhammad was traced by the gym's owners who gave him free lifetime membership along with some gym clothes.
"I swear to God, I am emotional," one Instagram user wrote, while another said on Twitter, "It's happening in our country, beautiful thing, really. Bravo, bravo."

The teenager who weighs 89kg now wishes to shed those extra pounds, according to Turkish newspaper Sabah reports quoted in RT.
Mustafa Kucukkaya, one of the center's owners, said, "The image touched me very much because we came from nothing and we did not have such a gym in our time. The Turkish people are very sensitive and I am very touched, I think we are doing something very good."


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