Infant who survived 2003 Sudan plane crash performs Haj in Saudi

He was the only survivor of a Sudanese plane crash back in 2003. Mohammad Al-Fateh Othman, now 15, was an infant sitting in his mother's arms when the Sudanese Airways plane travelling from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed in July 2003. Everyone on the plane died except Othman who was found by a worker near a tree.

Othman is performing Haj after he was invited by head of the Saudi Commission for Tourism Prince Sultan Bin Salman to come to Makkah. "I was over the moon when I received the invitation. I never had the chance to come to Saudi Arabia before and I can't think of a better reason than to perform Haj. People often assume that I have a phobia of planes because of the crash but I love being on airplanes and I don't remember the crash. I was barely two years old," Othman was quoted as saying in Saudi Gazette.

The toddler then, Othman was received help from various businessmen and influential people who financed his treatment post the crash. They also covered his educational expenses until he started studying information technology in Egypt.

Recalling the horrific plane crash, Othman's father said, "My wife and Mohammad were flying over fromPort Sudan and I had to stay at home to attend a family wedding and take care of my daughter Lina, who was only a few years old at the time. I heard about the devastating news. One of the rescue workers heard an infant crying." He added that the worker found Othman in a food cart used on the plane with water dripping on his bruised body.

"He was sponsored to be treated in the best hospitals in Europe. We grew close to the worker, Qulai, who saved my son's life. He is now family to us and Mohammad is very attached to him. We are grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to come here and perform Haj," said Othman's father.