Stranded in a civil war, exiled, and persecuted politically — it sounds like the stuff of faraway headlines. But, in the case of Mohammad Razai, second-year Medicine student at St Edmunds, it is part of the harrowing and inspirational journey that brought him from Afghanistan to Cambridge.

Born in Kabul, in the Hazara and Shiite Muslim community of Afghanistan, Mohammad has seen almost unspeakable tragedies befall his family. “The Hazaras are ethnic minorities in Afghanistan,” he explains. “It’s a difficult life, and I was bullied a lot just for being Hazara.”

During the period of Soviet presence in Afghanistan, Mohammad’s parents were imprisoned. Eight months later, his father was executed. As the Taliban started to take over Afghan society in the mid-1990s, life for Mohammad’s family became ever more difficult. His step-brother was taken into questioning,and his uncle was killed.

At this point, his mother decided to send him away. “Sending me away was a really difficult decision for my mum,” he explains. “But she wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t have strong reasons to fear for my life.”

Undertaking a risky journey, Mohammad crossed the border into Pakistan, from where he flew to Austria and eventually came to England in 2001. He arrived not knowing a word of English, but now speaks it fluently. “Knowing English was the first step towards doing anything, so I was forced to learn it very quickly,” he recalls.

Mohammad was initially placed in foster care, and slowly started to build a life in England. Between working at a pizza shop and doing a computer course, he found time for studies, eventually completing his A-levels.

His results allowed him to gain admission to UCL to study Anatomy & Developmental Biology, from where he graduated with honours. Encouraged by his success, he applied to Cambridge to read Medicine.

For someone who has achieved so much despite such challenges, Mohammad is surprisingly modest and has never harboured any grand ambitions. “I never had any ambitions. I didn’t even know what I would do in a few days, let alone in the long-term future,” he says.

It is perhaps this uncertainty that drives Mohammad to live each day to the fullest. He has thrown himself fully into life at Cambridge, taking part in everything from rowing to poetry to French, as well as inter-faith community work. During vacation periods, he has embarked on volunteer projects in India and China.

“Change has to come from the people,” he says. Does he envision himself as part of such a change? Ever modest, he adds, “I just want to be useful.”