[1][2][3] He lives and trains in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he runs with the Emek Hefer club and is supported by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Athlete Scholarship.

Tachlowini said: "a lot of people at the time were leaving Eritrea, and we were just thinking together that we wanted to go to another place, where we could live like human beings and have opportunity".

Soldiers began barging into houses in search of people to fight in the army, leading to Tachlowini's evacuation.

In advance of this, Tachlowini had brought the family member to Israel by paying Bedouin traffickers to bring her on a ferry to the Israeli border.

[4][6][9][10] Tachlowini witnessed the traffickers abuse, exploit, and commit unspeakable acts of violence against other refugees fearing expulsion or murder.

Upon his arrival, Israel officials classified Tachlowini as an asylum seeker and sent him to a detention facility intended for holding unaccompanied minors.

[4][6] Tachlowini completed school at Hadassah Neurim, where many of the kids nicknamed him Louie, and is now allowed to legally reside in Israel at the Youth Village with his adoptive family.