Sami Zayn shares heartfelt birthday wish ahead of WWE SmackDown
Sami Zayn celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday and shared his wish ahead of WWE SmackDown. Zayn's birthday week did not get off to the best start after getting attacked by Bron Breakker on the latest edition of WWE RAW.
The reigning Intercontinental Champion was born on July 12, 1984, in Laval, Quebec, Canada. His parents were originally from Homs, Syria, and immigrated to Canada before he was born.
In a post on his official X (fka Twitter) account, Zayn thanked everyone who greeted him on his special day. However, he said he would celebrate his birthday like he has for the past seven years. He announced that his wish was to raise money for his project called Sami for Syria.
"Hi, today is my birthday. My wish is to raise as much money as possible for our 2 #SamiForSyria mobile clinics that operate in Syria. In 2023, these 2 clinics provided 51,743 medical services. I'll match every dollar you donate today up to 15k," Zayn wrote.
You can check out his heartfelt post below:
Zayn started Sami for Syria back in 2017 in partnership with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) Foundation. The goal of the project was to provide medical care and assistance to people in Northwest Syria, affected by war and other tragedies.
There are currently two mobile clinics established by Zayn and SAMS Foundation, and they have provided 51,743 medical services in Syria. They were able to do it due to the donations received in the past seven years, mainly on the Intercontinental Champion's birthday.
How did Sami Zayn's 'Sami for Syria' project start?
In an appearance on Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast in April 2021, Sami Zayn opened up about the origins of his Sami for Syria project. It all began when he wanted to do more than just being a Syrian in Canada and feeling sorry for what was happening there.
Through the help of his brother, the Intercontinental Champion found out about the SAMS Foundation and partnered with them to possibly build mobile clinics in Syria.
"I saw all of million things that they do and I saw that they do mobile clinics, so I said, 'Well, wait a minute. What if I raised money? Could we start a mobile clinic?' And they kinda looked at the need for it and if they could facilitate it and all this stuff and it was a possibility, and so that's how it all started," Sami Zayn said.
Watch the video below to hear Sami Zayn talk about his project in Syria:
According to the SAMS Foundation's official website, Sami for Syria has already raised $181,122.94 since the project began in 2017.