As a toddler, he fell into a coma that lasted for two years, with doctors giving him a 95 per cent chance of dying.
He had whooping cough, cataracts and phthisis - a wasting disease similar to tuberculosis.
Incredibly, Sadam Ahmed woke up and has since defied all the odds to flourish at life, despite being left blind.
"The last time I recall sight is maybe at the age of two and a half," he says. "And after that it's all complete darkness.
"I had two choices at that stage where I could either just have just given into the darkness or fought it. Mum's encouragement pulled me through."
Sadam had another important piece of luck. After his miracle recovery, he and his mother were plucked out of the Somalian refugee camp where he was born and ended up in Melbourne.
"I don't remember much during my time in the camp as I was very sick," he told news.com.au. "We were helped by the UN. Back then, a lot of different countries were helping people out.
"We were lucky enough to be taken by Australia."
He admits that as a child "there was a lot of pent up anger that I am differently abled", but these days he wouldn't change anything. "Things could be a lot worse than being blind," he says. "Life is much improved from my time in the camp."
If someone offered him a magic pill that would restore his sight, he doesn't think he would take it. He's now comfortable in his own skin.
The 24-year-old has gained double diploma in business and international trade from RMIT, volunteers with Wildlife Rescue Inc and intends to start work in import and export next year.
He has a tech blog on which he reviews the ingenious devices and software that help him navigate life and engage with the digital world. These are evolving fast: at school, he couldn't even fit his bulky braille typewriter in his bag.
Sadam also works with Vision Australia to help other blind people understand what technology options are available to them and to become digital citizens. "I can't put a price on how much it's helped me in my life," he says.
Had he not moved to this country, Sadam might never even have learned braille, which he says is essential for a blind person to be able to study and enter a profession.
Today, Microsoft's intelligent personal assistant Cortana alerts him when he has email, Humanware's Braillenote Touch allows him to write up notes and wirelessly transfer them to a Surface Book where they can be converted into a file format that can read text to him through JAWS (Job Access With Speech). This technology is his eyes.
"I'm on Instagram, read emails, pay bills, use social media, I Skype, update my blog and have YouTube," he says.
Sadam lives with his mother, who he says "as moved heaven and earth to make sure I'm living the life she never led as a child", and he hopes to one day return to Somalia and help others like himself.
"If you reach for the sky, you may reach the moon," says Sadam. "Life experiences have taught me that no matter what, never give up."