Syrian refugee who swam from Turkey to Greece's...

Swimming to a new life: Incredible story of Syrian refugee who left his home in Damascus after it was bombed then swam for seven hours across the Aegean desperate for a safer future in Europe


A Syrian refugee has told how he swam for seven hours from Turkey to Greece because he couldn't afford to pay smugglers to take him by boat.

Ameer Mehtr defied swirling currents, 3ft high waves and exhaustion to swim the eight kilometre stretch to reach Europe - and he says he's not the only one making the perilous journey this way.

His triumphant photo of his arrival on the Greek island of Samos quickly went viral after it was shared on the RefugeeSweden on Instagram.

Ameer said;

'Every second of the way I thought I was going to die,' he told The Sunday Times, who he spoke to from an asylum centre in Sweden.

'But I kept going. I just kept looking at the cliffs in front of me and thinking 'Here is my future',' he said.

Ameer said he left Damascus after his friend was shot by a government sniper and his family home was destroyed in the fighting - wiping out the family finances.

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