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Egyptian expat suffers from Leber’s congenital amaurosis, an eye disease that primarily affects the retina
Zeyad Ibrahim (C) and his sister Selma (L) accepted their certificates.
Zeyad Ibrahim couldn’t be happier, despite the scars on his hands from the Lego blocks.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it was totally worth it,” said the 19-year-old, referring to the world he and his 17-year-old sister Thelma finally made. The biggest LEGO glasses are in Abu Dhabi for a week.
“One challenge I didn’t expect was how sharp the bricks would be. Every day, my hands would get cut and bleed. Sometimes, the pieces wouldn’t stick together. However, none of that stopped me from powering up.”
Aiding him in this feat is his sister Thelma, who has been his playmate since childhood. “Ever since he got his first Lego 9, he’s been hooked on it,” she said. “Even as a kid, I used to make all the sets with him.”
Zeyad suffers from Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an eye disease that primarily affects the retina, and his vision is only 5%. For him, making glasses is a symbolic gesture.
The world’s largest LEGO glasses.
“We wanted to do something that would highlight his condition,” Salma said. “He’s had it since he was a kid. I lived with him and knew how difficult his day-to-day life was. So, I really wanted to help him highlight that.”
The Egyptian siblings assembled LEGO-shaped glasses measuring 6.2mx 2.52mx 0.952m in 17 days. The siblings spent a total of 56 hours and 35 minutes assembling the glasses.
Another creation by Zeyad
“We would combine some of the pieces into blocks at home and ship them to the mall,” Zeyad said. “Then we would go to the mall and put the blocks together until the doors closed at 10pm. Honestly, the whole process was very tiring.” The brother and sister duo used 65,108 Lego bricks and weighed more than 147kg, About as heavy as a panda bear.
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In January 2020, Zead took part in the world’s longest handshake relay at an event in Abu Dhabi. This inspired him to try to break the Guinness World Records (GWR) title in his own way. “I emailed the GWR team last year, but I didn’t tell my family anything,” he said. “When I got official confirmation, I shared it with my family. My sister jumped up to save me.”
After getting his first Lego box at age 9, Zeyad would spend hours listening to YouTube videos to learn how to create new shapes. Since then, he has built more than 700 sets, often making his own modifications to the models. Zeyad is currently studying chemical engineering at University College Dublin in Ireland and is in the top 2% of his class. He dreams of being able to work with Lego. “I heard that the company is planning to set up a factory in the UAE,” he said. “My dream is to work in that factory and be one of their employees.”
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