At the age of seven, Ahmed Hakim was run over by a tram which led to both his arms and his right leg being amputated.
Yet, that did not stop him from chasing his dreams. He sought a rehabilitation institution to learn any craft so that he may make a living, but he was immediately rejected.
“Your hands and leg…Three missing limbs means you can’t make it here!” they told Hakim. Still, he insisted again and again until they allowed him to join.
While at the rehabilitation institution, he was inspired to become a painter after watching another young man with missing limbs painting.
After leaving the institution at the age of 15, Hakim decided to approach calligraphers in Alexandria in order to learn more about calligraphy.
When he turned 20, Hakim attended an interview at the Egyptian Advertising Company where “everybody around had gathered to watch that ‘handless’ calligrapher with much curiosity.”
“I worked there as a calligrapher for 20 years after which, thank God, I became a supervisor of advertisements,” explains Hakim of his journey from being a young, seven-year-old boy with no arms to becoming a supervisor at one of Egypt’s marketing firms and retiring at the age of 60.
