Mohammad Basheer Abdul Khadar lives in Dubai and was flying home from a visit to see family when the Boeing 777 crash-landed at the city’s International Airport and burst into flames. A firefighter died battling the blaze, but all 300 people on board escaped, and Khadar believes he was saved for a purpose.
He discovered six days after the crash that a ticket he had bought at the airport for the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw while on his way to India was worth $1 million, and has now been dubbed the ‘world’s luckiest by man’ by some international reporters. Khadar thinks his win has happened for a reason and now intends to put the money to good use by helping out the poor people of Kerala, the place in India where he grew up.
Khadar, a 62-year-old grandfather, is just a few months away from retirement and plans to return to Kerala, but only so that he can find another job that helps children in need. He told Gulf News: “I value the escape as a more precious gift from God and I knew God saved me for some specific purpose. Probably this is it.
“I obviously want to help the children in Kerala who are less fortunate than others and need some financial help and medical support. I don’t want to give it to a charity or build a business, I want to go out and find people who really need help and give them money. I was poor, and I know what people go through.”
Khadar has insisted that he will carry on working to help others for as long as he can, adding: “Nothing else can give you the satisfaction of your hard-earned money.”