Who is the boy who inaugurated the new Suez Canal with Sisi?

During the inauguration ceremony of the new Suez Canal, a small boy became the center of attention as he shared the formalities with the Egyptian president and waved the national flag proudly in the air.

Social media was full of speculation as to who he was, but few Egyptian media outlets highlighted his story. But the website ‘Egyptian Streets’ tracked him down, and discovered he was a nine-year-old cancer patient.

Omar Salah had one dream: to meet Abdel Fattah el-Sisi while dressed in military gear and be invited to the opening of the expanded canal.

On August 6, that dream came true as both international and local media aired video footage of the young boy waving the Egyptian flag with President Sisi by his side on-board the Presidential Yacht Mahrousa.

Omar waved the flag as the President’s Yacht sailed through the New Suez Canal ahead of the official opening ceremony. The move was hailed by some on Twitter as a promotion of the battle against cancer in Egypt.

In an earlier interview with the press a few weeks earlier, Omar Salah’s mother spoke of how her son had been dreaming to meet the President, particularly as he had always wanted to join the military, but it is unlikely he will be able to, because of his health.

Addendum: A news blog by the name of ‘Egyptian Streets’ has made public claims that the above article was lifted from their website without citation. However, the above mentioned article clearly mentions the blog as the source, with this clearly appearing in the second paragraph. However, in a contradiction to such claims, the editor of ‘Egyptian Streets’ has contacted us asking for us to actually include a paragraph from their original story mentioning the 57357 Children Cancer Hospital in Egypt, which features heavily in their article.