A young man from an ethnic minority in Myanmar carried his paralyzed mother and father, who could barely walk, for 7 days as they fled to Bangladesh during the 2017 crisis, and his story continues to move people on social media

Muhammad Ayyub refused to leave his parents behind when his family fled Myanmar during the 2017 Rohingya crisis.

Because both had serious difficulty walking, he improvised two baskets joined by a pole and carried his mother at one end and his father at the other. According to the humanitarian organization İHH, he walked barefoot for seven days until he reached Bangladesh.

The family eventually found refuge in the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. His mother, Asya Hatun, had been paralyzed since 2008 and needed medical care, while his father died 45 days after arriving at the camp.

In 2018, İHH reported that it began supporting the family, arranged medical treatment for Asya, and gave her a wheelchair. The image of Ayyub carrying his parents was widely shared as one of the most moving scenes of the Rohingya exodus during those years.