The umpire who cheated death ....

Last week in Abu Dhabi I spoke to a bloke who had no right to be there. The more I heard about his story, the more I realised that it was a miracle that he was standing before me.

Ahsan Raza was testament to determination and hope. On the 3rd of March 2009 he almost took his last breath. This 36-year-old Pakistani was the umpire who was severely wounded in the recent ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team that shook the sporting world.

This assault in Lahore was the first terrorist attack on a sporting team since those horrific real time pictures filled our television screens when Palestinian militants murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches during the tragic 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Eight months ago Raza was in the crossfire of a ferocious terrorist battle as he dived for cover in a minibus directly behind the isolated Sri Lankan team bus. During that horrific seven minutes, seven people were killed and eight others cruelly wounded. Ahsan was hit twice in the upper body as one bullet punctured his right lung and another pierced his liver. Here he was, simply an innocent cricket official involved in a game he loved, and on that day in Pakistan he very nearly lost his life.

Following the carnage and mayhem, he was immediately rushed to intensive care where he stayed for twenty six days. Twenty two bottles of blood were needed for his survival and doctors warned his family that they should expect the worst. He was 100 per cent sure he was going to die. He never though he would set eyes on his three daughters again.

He vividly recalls the traumatic moments that have changed his life forever and since regaining consciousness have haunted his sleep patterns with nightmares on a regular basis. He remembers being about one mile from the Gaddafi Stadium when suddenly, without warning, bullets began shattering windows and tearing holes into the minibus that was transporting the match officials to the test match.

Immediately before him, two policemen fell dead. He screamed that everyone should get on the floor and did his best to instruct the dazed and shocked occupants of the vehicle, his fellow match officials. It wasn’t until he stirred to assist ICC Match Referee Chris Broad that the first bullet hit him in the armpit, and then a second ripped into his stomach.

Blood was cascading everywhere and his life was flashing before his eyes. A dozen gunmen with rocket launchers, grenades and AK-47’s had done the unthinkable. Ashan was a blameless victim. The innocence of the sporting world was shattered forever and the scars will never heal. Certainly not for Ashan.

The day that I met Ahsan was an enormously proud day for him. This was the first time that he was back on international umpiring duty and he was officiating in a one-day match between Pakistan and New Zealand, a day he thought would never happen.

Months earlier he had decided to banish this incident to his memory banks and start what he considered his second life in England. However in a moment of clarity he realised that, should he do that, it would be a victory to those who nearly killed him.

This was now his own meaningful victory.