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TwinsYusufand Matriculants
Yaqoob (left) and
Yaqoob survived Yusuf Arrison
recently received
a shocking family a ministerial award,
which included new
tragedy – now cellphones, for their
perseverance in the
they’re off face of hardship.
to varsity
BY KIM ABRAHAMS
STRONGER TOGETHER
HEY’RE twins so they’re felt really nice to be recognised for our
there for each other no efforts. It meant a lot.”
matter what – and the There were many who didn’t expect
struggles and challenges him and his brother to succeed, he says
these two have endured – so proving everyone wrong makes the
have only served to award even sweeter.
strengthen the bond that
Tbinds them. HE brothers’ lives changed
Yusuf and Yaqoob Arrison made head- forever one tragic Saturday
lines a few years ago after surviving a morning in January 2017.
tragic family shooting. Their mother, Aneesa (43),
As Yusuf lay unconscious with a bullet first shot and killed their elder
in his head, Yaqoob was in the bed next Tbrother, Waseem (21), then
to his, playing dead to stop their suicidal turned the gun on her twins, who were
mother from killing him. He was later The twins’ mother, Aneesa, and their just 14 at the time.
able to flee the house, carrying his twin elder brother, Waseem, whom she killed “I woke up in the early hours because
before shooting the twins and turning the
to safety on his back. gun on herself. It’s believed she became I heard a loud bang,” Yaqoob recalls. “The
Now just three years down the line the depressed due to financial troubles after next thing I remember is someone walk-
17-year-olds are in the news again – this the death of their father. ing towards me.”
time because of the amazing support At the time he didn’t realise it was his
Yaqoob offered his brother to help him both boys discovered they’d achieved mother or that the noise he’d heard was
succeed in his final matric exams. matric exemption. her shooting Waseem.
As a result of the shooting, Yusuf was And that’s not all – at the annual West- Yusuf slept through the commotion.
left with impaired vision and has difficul- ern Cape National Matric Certificate He woke up only after experiencing a
ty reading. But Yaqoob was determined awards ceremony, the plucky twins from stabbing pain in his head. Then he
this wouldn’t prevent his brother getting Bernadino Heights in Kraaifontein, Cape blacked out.
the marks he needed to go to university. Town, were honoured with special “She shot Yusuf then turned to shoot
So he spent hours each day patiently awards for the resilience they’d displayed me,” Yaqoob says.
reading to Yusuf and helping him study. in the face of hardship. After a bullet hit him in the hand he lay
His brotherly devotion paid off. When “It was really unexpected,” Yusuf tells still, pretending to be dead.
the results were announced in January, YOU as he chats to us at their home. “It The house went quiet for a while.
84 | 6 FEBRUARY 2020 you.co.za
