A CHESTER man who fled war-torn Afghanistan as a child to become an NHS doctor has told his remarkable life story in a new book.

Dr Waheed Arian has written a new book, titled 'In the Wars', which tells his against-the-odds tale of how he was smuggled into the UK aged 15 with the equivalent of just $100 in his pocket, but used his strength and determination to qualify as a doctor.

Born in war-torn Afghanistan, Waheed Arian's earliest memories are of bombs. Fleeing the conflict with his family, he spent much of his childhood in refugee camps in Pakistan, living sometimes ten to a room without basic sanitation or access to education.

After he contracted tuberculosis, his first-hand experience of the power of medicine inspired Waheed to dedicate his life to healing others.

But, how does a boy with nothing hope to become a doctor? Waheed largely taught himself, from textbooks bought from street-sellers, and learned English from the BBC World Service.

Smuggled to the UK at fifteen with just $100 in his pocket, he found a job in a shop. He was advised to set his sights on becoming a taxi driver. But the boy from Kabul had bigger ambitions.

He studied all hours and was accepted to read medicine at Cambridge University, Imperial College and Harvard, and went on to become a doctor in the NHS.

In 2015 he founded Arian Teleheal, a pioneering global charity that connects doctors in war zones and low-resource countries with their counterparts in the US, UK, Europe and Australia.

Together, learning from each other, they save and change lives - the lives of millions of people just like Waheed.

Dr Arian's pioneering charity, Arian Teleheal, works directly with clinicians on the ground, and provides governments and global organisations with a blueprint for delivering innovative healthcare and education.

He has been recognised as a UNESCO Global Hope Hero, a UN Global Goals Goalkeeper, an NHS Innovation Mentor, and was appointed to the WHO Roster of Digital Health Experts in 2019.

In the UK, he has been awarded the Rotary Internation Peace Award and the Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.

Stephen Fry has called his book: "A thrilling and absorbing read from first to last. What a life and what an inspiration."

Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, said: "Spanning from war-wracked Kabul to the lecture halls of Cambridge, Dr Arian tells a riveting story of loss, exile and rebirth. At a time when displacement has become increasingly politicised, this book is a gift, a dazzling testimony to the extraordinary contributions that refugees make to the host communities that welcome them."

And BBC foreign correspondent and world affairs editor John Simpson, who told Dr Arian's story in a BBC News documentary 'Waheed's Wars – Saving Lives Across the World', said of the book: "Powerful, heart-warming…I was moved and delighted."

Dr Arian recently signed copies of his new book in The Mold Bookshop.

The book is now on sale from such places as Waterstones, Amazon and Goodreads.