Lakemba teen Hicham Jansis sets sits on becoming trauma surgeon after topping state in HSC course

WHEN Hicham Jansis’s father was almost killed in an attack on his Syrian hometown, he saw first-hand the lifesaving work of trauma surgeons. Now he sees himself one day joining Doctors Without Borders.

Lakemba’s Hicham Jansis has topped the state in a HSC course just a year after he and his family fled war-torn Syria. Photo: Tim Clapin

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WHEN Hicham Jansis’s father was gravely injured in an attack on his Syrian hometown, he saw first-hand the lifesaving work of trauma surgeons.

It would shape a dream that has endured through years of terror, more languishing in a Jordan refugee camp and finally sitting at his desk at Oatley College in Sydney.

Now 19, the inspirational young man has beaten unimaginable hardship to top the state in his HSC course Arabic extension.

While Hicham, from Lakemba, still faces more academic hurdles, he has no doubt he will one day join the ranks of Doctors Without Borders.

A general view shows destroyed buildings in the government-held Jouret al-Shiah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs.

“My dad was injured and a volunteer doctor really helped him. He was actually about to die, he had a lot of internal bleeding and they saved his life,” Hicham said.

“That’s why I want to be a doctor and help other people because I saw the important role of doctors helping people.”

Hicham’s family of seven fled war-torn Homs on foot to Jordan in 2014 and took refuge in a camp on the Syrian border.

School wasn’t a priority — just two hours a day of classes.

Hachim didn’t resume a proper education until arriving in Australia last year.

“It was amazing for me coming to Australia,” Hachim said. “It’s like starting a new life because I lost a lot of things in Syria. I lost my education, I lost my family.”

Hicham (third left) with family Marwa, 15, Alma, 8, Homam, 11, Khadija, Mukhtar and Shirin, 17. Photo: Tim Clapin.

There’s always reminders of his past life. On the day of his last exam his uncle was killed in a bomb blast in Aleppo.

Hachim says he hopes to return to Syria, armed with a surgeon’s knowledge. He knows his ATAR won’t be enough to get him into undergraduate medicine, but he has a plan to get in from a different path.

“You can’t imagine the feeling that you have nothing and people come help you. That’s the feeling I’m looking to give others.”

Other local students to top HSC were Sarah Desney and Istvan Kovacs for Hungarian continuers at the Saturday School of Community Languages Bankstown Girls High School Centre.