Medi’s Story
In trying to prepare him for life, Medi lost his life.
Medi was a loving and caring boy who just wanted to please. Since age 9 he would cook breakfast (specialty scrambled eggs!) and carry it all the way upstairs to us. He took pride in looking after his disabled grandma, even taking her to his 11th birthday party with all his friends.
He was our best friend and comfortable asking all sorts of awkward questions, sometimes even on behalf of his friends. We shared pillow talk almost daily and even after a few days apart, I went to meet him on holiday with his Grandparents in Northumberland, we were still giggling and chatting at 2 am, just wrapped up at the moment.
Medi loved his school and said he felt proud that the younger boys would follow in his footsteps. He said that it was at a good school as the teachers were always willing to listen, even if what you had to say was not that good. On Friday nights Medi would come to the office to pick me up, creeping up on me from one corner or another always with a hug and kiss before going off to do some homework. Later he would use the tannoy to remind me that ‘the boys’ – Medi and Mehdi – were ready to take her out. Football was Medi’s passion. In addition to the UCS Junior Branch’s Under 11 First Team, he played regularly with the Ringley office team and was a frequent goal scorer.
He’d draw team formations and had an opinion on almost every player on every team. He enjoyed the Iran World Cup game with his friends, who were just great even when Iran was defeated. He never missed a school football trip, where what goes on tour – stays on the tour. We taught him it is important to have something to aim for in life; he’d just started a javascript programming course, did his accounts in excel, and achieved an A* in his Iranian GCSE. He was looking forward to getting an iPhone as a reward.
Medi was born at 8 months and fought his way out of Intensive Care. He walked at 9 months, he told us he came from the moon and he loved his milk. Sometimes he’d get the clock all wrong and play with his Dad through the night whilst the rest of the world slept. Since age 3 he would greet people with a handshake and a confident smile usually dressed as a proper little man. Medi started school we forgot to prep him fully and on his 1st day, he said, “I thought you weren’t going to come and get me!” He forgave us but spent the next few days popping into school to say hello and coming straight back out to go home again.
Medi hurt his fingers and bravely told the nurses he was the happy bear on the ladder despite the damage. At age 5 Medi had light beams in his eyes and clung to me for days as he thought he was going to go blind. Medi was always a giver and aware of the world around him, he easily recognised the needs of others. He baked cakes to sell for Blue Peter, encouraged us to raise £1,000 for Great Ormond Street, and always donated far more than a kid his age should have.At age 8 he walked 15 miles for Water Aid without a groan or a grumble. He would also drag us around the school for runs too.
He enjoyed a school trip to Lille so much that he insisted on taking us back 2 weeks later and walked us around everywhere he’d gone with the school so we would not miss out.
Medi and I survived a whole night camping only to be woken up at 5 am wet though with the morning dew because we didn’t know how to pitch the tent properly. We laughed and went to see what the world looked like at 5 am and sat on a wall talking nonsense for a few hours.
Whilst brought up as a Muslim, as a family we were frequent visitors of pretty churches, synagogues, and cathedrals all over the world. We simply taught Medi that he was welcome in all houses of God and Medi would enjoy lighting candles for the family and saying a prayer for those with us and those who’d passed away. We celebrated his life in St James’s Roman Catholic Church in George Street, Marylebone; this being a special place where he and his dad often went on boys’ only trips for quality time and to cover when I had to work.
At the end of Year 4, Medi was awarded the school’s prestigious Courtesy Cup. We heard that he was a clear winner, unanimously voted for by all teachers at the school. “Unanimous is very much the word for how much Medi was liked and loved by teachers and pupils at our school. The duty teachers report that they’d watch him help smaller boys in the playground who had fallen over or who were upset. Mature, big-hearted, fun-loving, loyal, honest, and kind, no words could describe what a massive hole he will leave in everyone’s lives.” Said Mark Albini, UCS Deputy Head.
Visit: MediOliver Projects
Previous Events
Events
In life, Medi loved to help and please others, and with a little help from the UCS boys, we worked to get water to his pen pals in Ethiopia.
Get newsletter updates >>give us your email>>
