MARTIN Compston has told of how he helped an Afghan taxi driver’s family escape the Taliban after he gave him a lift home from a night out.
The Line of Duty star was getting a taxi from the famous Las Vegas strip to his home nearby when he heard of how his driver, named Naweed, was desperately trying to help his family escape the Taliban following the US withdrawal from the region.
Naweed told Compston how he had been an interpreter for the US military and was worried that his family would be in danger after the Taliban returned to power.
The Scottish star then used his network to put the taxi driver in contact with a US lawyer to help his family escape to Las Vegas, where they have now got a new life together.
“I was on a night out on the Las Vegas strip and I got an Uber home and got chatting with the driver,” he said.
“As it turns out he was from Afghanistan and had been an interpreter for the American army. He was in Vegas on a special visa, waiting on his citizenship.
“His wife and young baby were still in Kabul and he had been going back and forth for years quite freely while they were working on their appeals to become US citizens.
“After the Allied troops pulled out he was in this horrible situation where he was in Vegas and his wife and baby were left behind in a warzone. With him having worked for the American army he had a target on his back, and hence so did they.”
Compston said that by the time he got home, he was convinced that he wanted to help Naweed and his family.
Talking on BBC Radio Five Live he added: “Working in my job you get to meet a lot of people and I just started calling everybody I know.
“By luck, War Child had reached out to me to help with a campaign and I said ‘Absolutely, but I actually have a child in a war zone, what advice can you give me?’ “They put me in touch with this amazing lawyer in Washington DC and she took on the case pro bono.
“We started petitioning senators and doing as much as we could.
“I texted Naweed to say we would get them out soon. He called me to say he was back in Afghanistan.
“My heart sank but I understand why he did it. He said ‘I can’t let my wife and daughter run from house to house without me when I put them in this situation.’ “It took a bit of time and an incredible amount of bravery on their part but finally we got them to Qatar where they were looked after and processed and then we got them back to Vegas.”
Compston also told of how he and his wife Tianna have become firm friends with Naweed and his family.
He said: “They are setting up their house, me and my wife went round there for dinner and then they all came round our house for 4th of July.
“It was beautiful. It felt like it was the proper start of their American story.
“It all started with that Uber journey and I’m just so happy that they are safe.”
