After a long journey, Salima Souakri adopts sick child Asmar: Get to know this touching story – Video
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Former Algerian judoka Salima Souakri announced, via her official Instagram account, that she has just adopted the little child Asmar, 5 years old, who suffers from a handicap and a congenital malformation. Their first meeting dates back more than three years. It was at Beni Messous hospital in Algiers.
In a video posted on her social media accounts, the former Secretary of State to the Minister of Youth and Sports, in charge of elite sport, Salima Souakri shared her most beautiful moments of joy with the child. A way to tell the tragic story of this little child from the wilaya of Adrar.
“When I first saw Asmar at Beni Messous Hospital, he was two years old. He had traveled thousands of kilometers to undergo a surgery, coming from the wilaya of Adrar, ”said the former tatami champion.
According to her words, the child Asmar was the collateral victim of two irresponsible people. “The mother and father wanted to discharge their responsibility by getting rid of this illegitimate child,” revealed Salima Souakri.
“The mother took medication to get rid of the embryo. However, Asmar fought to stay alive,” she added. The judo champion continued: “On October 25, 2017, a boy was born in the wilaya of Tamanrasset. He came into the world with unknown parents, without a name or family, disabled and suffering from a malformation due to the drugs his mother was taking which hindered his development”.
At birth, Asmar was placed in an orphanage in the wilaya of Adrar. “The first time I saw him, I felt a special feeling and I promised myself not to abandon him… because he has no one” she stressed in the same video.
Since then, she often went to the Beni Messous hospital. In vain. Asmar was transferred to Adrar due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Never mind. This is how she had gone to Tamanrasset to officially adopt him.
Regarding the treatment, the sportswoman indicated that Asmar will start his first treatment sessions in France soon. She also revealed that the treatment can take a long time, up to 15 years.
Salima Souakri is not unknown to the judo family. Having participated in the Olympic Games four times and having won the prestigious Paris Tournament and ten African Champion titles, Salima Souakri was also the first woman from Algeria and the Arab community to take part in the Olympic tournament.
Since her retirement from the tatami, she has remained active in the sport, social assistance and media sectors. Salima was the first Algerian woman nominated as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is a prominent member of the Gender Equity Commission of the International Judo Federation. In 2020, she received the ‘Women and Sport Award 2020 for Africa,’ awarded by the International Olympic Committee.
(Translated from La Patrie News)
