In the second part of her specialreport on the local aid effort forrefugees in the Calais Jungle camp, the Gazette’s STEPHANIE STRONG , left, meets a young sportsman who fled Taleban recruiters inAfghanistan and is desperate to find a safe haven in the UK.

A FAMILY who are volunteering at the Calais migrant camp have spoken of their heartbreak at the story of a former World Cup youth cricketer who broke his leg trying to escape to safety.

Pauline and Kevin Davidson, 54 and 52, and daughter Leanne, 17, started helping the migrants after reading about conditions at the “Jungle” camp on the internet.

The family took me with them to to witness first-hand the work they are doing and conditions there.

Former teacher Mrs Davidson said she had been touched by former Afghan youth cricketer Javeed Ahmedzai’s story.

The youngster, now 19, broke his leg when French police used teargas to stop him climbing into a freight container.

Mrs Davidson, of Lilley Close, Brentwood, said: “When you hear Javeed talking about how he came to be here, it’s heartbreaking.”

Her daughter Leanne,apupil at Brentwood County High School, said: “I came out to the camp for the first time in October, and I didn’t expect it to affect me emotionally.

“I only came to support my mum. Then I spoke to a lot of the people here. When I heard Javeed’s story,I felt awful.

“We met at the kitchen, cutting veg. I feel I have to do something. Now I know about it, I can’t just turn my back on it.”

Javeed lived in a town called Hoshi Kandow, where the bright teenager had hopes of a cricket career, after playing for his country in the under-16s World Cup.

He was also set to go to university to study engineering.

Then the Taleban tried to recruit him.

He said: “Every day, the Taleban were coming and telling me, ‘no, you cannot go to play cricket – you are coming to two days training with us’. They were taking me into the mountains for training. They trained me to kill people with Kalashnikovs. They are targeting the educated ones, they become targets.

“I felt like saying ‘**** you Taleban! You come killing, it’s no good.’ Killing is no good. More problems, more war!

“Six months ago, I left. My family wanted me to leave to get away from the Taleban. It took me six weeks to get here, my family paid foratrain ticket.”

The Calais camp is home to about 6,000 refugees, many of whom risk their lives every day, trying to try to reach the UK.

Javeed said: “I broke my leg six weeks ago. We were trying to jump on a container to go on the boat.

“Then the police chased us, sprayed me with teargas and pushed me –Ifell and broke open my leg. I was sitting there bleeding, the bone sticking out of my leg, and the police were just laughing at me, saying ‘why are you coming here?’ “There was so much blood and pain. Finally, a policewoman came along and helped me.

“I can’t go back to Afghanistan.

I will be going back to killing and shooting people – killing people who are not my enemy.

“I just want to play cricket.”