In a new documentary that will be broadcast by the BBC Wednesday, four-time Olympic gold medal winner, runner Mo Farah, tells the story of how he was brought to the UK illegally as a young boy and forced to live a life of servitude.

Farah, whose real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin, was trafficked from Djibouti in East Africa when he was about eight-years-old. He was taken out of Djibouti by a stranger, with fake travel documents. His name was changed to Mohammed Farah. 

He was taken to London and forced to take care of the woman’s young children. Farah says he had to do housework and childcare “if I wanted food in my mouth.” In the documentary, he said the woman told him, “If you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything.”

Farah has won gold medals as a runner in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. 

The BBC story tells Farah’s real story. In the past, he said he moved to the UK with his parents, escaping Somalia.

But according to the documentary, his father was shot and killed in Somalia during unrest when he was only four-years-old. His family, consisting of his mother and two brothers,  still live in Somaliland. 

When he was about eight-year-old, he was sent to family in Djibouti. Soon after, he was trafficked to London to be a domestic servant. 

When Farah was finally allowed to go to school, at around age 12,  he became interested in running and told his story to one of his physical education instructors. The teacher contacted social services, who helped him be taken in as a foster child with a Somali family 

Farah said he was afraid to tell his story because he feared being deported, but to his surprise, he got a lot of support.  

“I had no idea there was so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did,” he said. “It just shows how lucky I was.”

The runner became a UK citizen in 2000. He was knighted in 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II. 

London Mayor Sadiq Khan praised Farah on Twitter. 

“Everything Sir Mo has survived proves he’s not only one of our greatest Olympians but a truly great Briton,” Khan said on Twitter “@Mo Farah thank you for sharing your story & shining a spotlight on these awful crimes. We must build a future where these tragic events are never repeated.”

Mo Farah eventually did reunite with his mother and two brothers in Somaliland.  His sad but heart-warming story, The Real Mo Farah,  can be seen in Wednesday on BBC One.