BOSNIAN-born Selmir Gosto was only 11 when a landmine shattered his leg and claimed his father’s life.
He spent about four months in a Sarajevo hospital before being brought to Australia for surgery by Moira Kelly’s Children First Foundation. Now, after a 13-year-struggle, the Laverton resident has been made an Australian citizen at age 28.
The former Moonee Ponds resident was among about 90 people sworn in at last month’s Hobsons Bay’s Australian citizenship ceremony.
He says it’s all thanks to Ms Kelly. “She’s been a big part of my life and will be for a long time. I have so much respect for that woman.”
At the end of the war in Bosnia, Mr Gosto was in a car with his father, grandfather and brother when they drove over a landmine.
“It was after the war had finished in ’95, when the peace agreement was signed.
“We went back to visit [our] house because that area was declared safe under the UN. We went back and we were unfortunate enough to come across the landmine.
“My father died not long after that.
“Luckily, my brother was well enough after the incident to go back to the city. He ran for nine miles to save us.
“I was pronounced dead in the hospital and then doctors worked and worked on me and I came round. I met Moira through my doctor, because I had to go back every couple of days to change my dressing.”
Mr Gosto suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body, which was embedded with hundreds of shrapnel fragments.
He was part of a second group of Bosnian children taken out of the country by Ms Kelly for surgery and was operated on at Cabrini Hospital, spending about five months as a patient.
Mr Gosto was offered a billet with a parish priest at Hamilton and finished high school before graduating from Victoria University in 2007 with a bachelor of arts degree in multimedia.
He works as manager of a design group at Open Universities Australia and volunteers with the Children First Foundation, greeting children arriving at Melbourne Airport from the world’s trouble spots.
Mr Gosto says he’s fallen in love with Australia and, in particular, Melbourne’s west. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I’ve always lived in the west side since I moved to Melbourne.
“I think the beach scene sets the standard for the place, and it’s been good to me. Williamstown is my playground. We go fishing from Altona. People don’t realise here how fortunate they are, in every way you look at it.
“For me, it was just having a steady job, having the opportunity to do what you want. You’re not restricted, you can make your dreams happen.
“I suppose that’s what I’ve taken out of the opportunity that I’ve been given.”
He said becoming an Australian citizen was a highlight of his life. “The place I’m in, I feel safe, I don’t feel threatened, I’ve got opportunities.
“I’m in this country forever now. When I got my citizenship, it was like a tonne was lifted from my back and I can relax and just think about enjoying life now and not worrying about visas and when I have to submit my next application.
“You look at the world and anything is possible for you because you’ve been down so low. Australia is your oyster.”
