Let’s honour this tragic Afghan teen

AT THE moment two sporting teenagers are in my mind. A week ago, 18-year-old Emma Raducanu achieved the seemingly impossible, became U.S. Open champion and raised the trophy, making history.

Such hopes and dreams, so many hours of practise, such faith in her future . . . all shone in her lovely, joyful young face.

A month ago, 19-year-old Zaki Anwari, from the Afghanistan National Youth Football Team, was one of the desperate people who tried to escape the Taliban by clinging to a USAF Boeing C-17 plane as it took off from Kabul airport. He plunged to the ground and has already disappeared into history.

Zaki’s hopes and dreams, his hours practising on the pitch, his ambitions, his faith in freedom not repression . . . all lend tragic intensity to his handsome, serious young face.

Two teenagers, two different lives. Triumph and disaster. Tears of joy at the victory of the one. Tears of overwhelming sorrow at the fate of the other.

I name Zaki Anwari because he was somebody’s son, grandson, brother, friend, and his death mattered. It still does.

Imagine if he’d made it out of Afghanistan. If a couple of our overpaid footballers sponsored him . . . but it wasn’t to be.

In a heartbreaking final Facebook post before his terrible death, Zaki Anwari wrote, ‘You’re the painter of your life. Don’t give the paintbrush to anyone else.’

Let those inspiring words be his legacy. Now Emma Raducanu has the world at her feet and deserves it. But let us also honour a young man who deserved to ‘paint’ a new life, but fell to earth.

Bel answers readers’ questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, london W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.