(WCBS 880) -- An Iraqi refugee who lost his sight and his right arm after stepping on a bomb when he was a child is pursuing his dream of becoming a musician.
Ahmed Shareef was seven years old when the bomb went off as he was walking home from school near Baghdad.
Shareef, now 21, grew up on Staten Island after he was brought to New York City by Elissa Montanti, founder and director of the Global Medical Relief Fund, a nonprofit based in Staten Island that helps children severely injured due to war, natural disaster or illness.
She fell in love with him and eventually, with his mother's blessing, became his guardian. He calls her "mom."
One day Shareef sat down at a piano, which he had never seen even before he lost his sight, and he fell in love.
"I did not know a piano player didn't need two hands, so I just went with it," he told WCBS 880's Mike Sugerman in this week's "Sweet Spot." "Music was just my passion and I developed my skills by listening to music and hearing the piano."
The talented singer, band leader, and piano player now plays on a regular basis at Liedy's Shore Inn on Staten Island.
"He's an inspiration to everybody that meets him," says Elissa, who got him the gig. "You think you're having a bad day? Take a look. Here's a kid that's blind and has one arm. And look what he's doin -- he's making music, he's making everybody happy, he's making himself happy."
Tom Forissi is a Liedy's regular and says, "To see this young man perform the way he does with the joy that can only be intrinsic from someone who understands what real living is meant for, he's just an absolute joy to be around."
Ahmed has a scholarship to study music at Manhattanville College and is hoping to continue doing what he's doing.
"I want to pursue music as best as I can. Right now, my goal is to live happy," he said.