A LEOMINSTER man who was moved by the plight of a boy who lost both his legs and most of his family in a blast in Syria is to raise money in his honour.

Jim Wood, a Leominster-based photographer who specialises in 'protest photos', first met Muhammed in 2015 – three years after most of the youngster's family where killed when Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's air force attacked a rebel held area of Bab Al Hadid in Aleppo.

A government rocket hit the house and in that moment, the five-year-old lost his mother, little brother, both grandparents, a great uncle and uncle.

Both of his own legs required amputation.

He fled to Turkey with his father, who was at work on the day of the attack, where they now live in an Istanbul apartment.

Mr Wood travelled to the Turkish city on an assignment for a charity in 2015, taking photos of Syrian refugees there, and met Muhammed, now nine, and his father.

Mr Wood said: "It just really knocked me – especially considering his dad had lost his wife and entire family. It was about a year after my wife died so I really empathised.

"Muhammed is such a strong character. He's so confident. My translator had known the family ever since they came out of Syria. He organised for him to come to Istanbul from Aleppo.

"It was his brother who ended up carrying him across the border."

Mr Wood said he was 'gutted' when he heard the child's story and vowed he would do anything he could to help.

On May 2 this year, exactly five years since the date that Muhammed's family were killed, Mr Wood will walk 32 miles from Leominster to Upton-upon-Severn – a fundraising bid which he expects will take him 13 or 14 hours.

"The money I am raising will go towards paying for an operation to put right the bone overgrowth which will become a problem for Muhammed as he grows," he said.

"Also we will be able to help him get a new pair of prosthetic legs as by the time he needs his operation he will have out grown the pair of prosthetic legs which he is currently using.

"This is an instance where you can actually make a real difference to the life of a child," he said.

"All the money will go to him."

To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/walkformuhammed