A ten-year-old boy has finally completed a 'harrowing' 12-day journey to the US where he witnessed things 'no child should have to see'.
Bahaudin Mujtaba and his wife, Lisa, started the adoption process to get the little boy, Norman, from Afghanistan to Florida in 2016.
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Norman, who is a distant relative of the couple, had his adoption delayed because of his native country's restrictions and corruption.
Norman finally began to make the journey as Afghanistan's government collapsed and the Taliban began to take a hold. He was metres away from the military organisation as they fired bullets into the air.
Speaking to NBC6, his adoptive father Bahaudin Mujtaba explained: "My son mentioned the Taliban were firing bullets into the air to disperse the crowd and he was just meters away from that, so there was a lot of pushing, shoving, people getting away, and unfortunately during the stampede, many people did get injured and did die."
Norman initially attempted to depart from Kabul airport but was denied entry by the Taliban security.
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Mr Mujtaba said: "They had to basically abandon that attempt of getting inside the airport, and after 14 hours, they went home. Stayed overnight, and the next day they tried again."
On his second attempt, the 10-year-old got through before being packed on to a military plane.
Mr Mujtaba, who is from Afghanistan but has US citizenship, is a professor at Nova Southeastern University. He and his wife, Lisa, started to look into adoption when they realised they couldn't have biological children.
Speaking about the feeling of knowing his son was safely out of war-torn Afghanistan, he said: "The waiting during 25-30 hours was anxiety-producing, stressful and challenging because you don't know when how or where they will fly out."
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Twelve days later, the pair were reunited and Norman - whose biological mother passed away from cancer - got to meet his adoptive mum for the first time.
He went on: "When he came to Florida, he said, this is America. So I think maybe the fact he was so close to his home finally he feels he was home."
Norman was shown his own bedroom where he has his own space and his very own bed which has been ready for him since 2018.
The youngster is enjoying living in the US. The first thing he tried was American food with chicken being his favourite so far. He's also been swimming for the first time.
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Despite leading a better life in America, Norman can't help but think about those back home.
Mr Mujtaba said: "He's also worried about friends and family because they have to deal with violence, chaos and uncertainty, and that part worries him and stresses him and he's here and they cannot experience the same thing."
Featured Image Credit: NBC6