Gym Gives 12-Year-Old Syrian Refugee Free Lifetime Membership After Photo Goes Viral

January 10, 2018

Hours after a photo of him gazing through a gym window went viral, Muhammad Khaled, a Syrian boy who works as a shoeshiner in Adıyaman, Turkey, was given a free lifetime membership by the gym.

Gym owner Engin Dogan was able to locate the 12-year-old boy after one of his clients took the viral photo.

"Our aim was to find him and offer him a lifetime membership here. And, we did it," Dogan said.

"He is one of our members now."

Dogan and Khaled via Instagram

Khaled was later photographed working out in the gym and told a Turkish news agency that he was happy with the opportunity.

"He found me and helped me," Khaled said.

"I had always dreamed of losing weight and now I believe I can do that by working out."