2 Refugees swim to Greece!
Perilous journey of 2 people who swam from Turkey to Greece!
Hesham Modamani and Feras Abukhalil swim to Greece
The 2 syrians met at an airport. Hesham explained his plan to Feras, and Feras asked to join him in his plan. The two planned the swim for 2 months ahead of time, plotting their journey on google maps. They planned to stop 2 different times, at 2 islands in the middle of the ocean.
A picture they took before their departure
Feras Abukhalil
Feras Abukhalil on the plane where they discussed their plan of swimming
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150914044530-swim-europe-2-large-169.jpg
Their departure
Not as easy as they thought
When they departed, they had planned to have 2 stops where they could rest, but that wasn't the case. As they approached the first island they planned to stop on, it was small and covered with birds. They gave it a chance and lied down, but Feras stated "They were looking at us like dead bodies, circling above us." So they couldn't stay. The second island, wasn't even an option, it was barely an island. It was just a wall made of rock. Not being able to rest on either of the islands made their journey even tougher. But eventually, as they kept swimming, they ran into a boat. They begged the driver of the boat to let them on. The driver, knowing they were refugees, let them on the boat. The sailor stated "Our duty is to respect humanity first and the law second." They got a ride on the boat for the rest of the way to Greece, exhausted. They then had to hike a few miles to get into a safe part of Greece.