The story of the Williams family is unbelievably shocking because they rose from an extreme level of hardship after taking refuge in a different country, having left their motherland.

Nico Williams was born in 2002 to Felix Williams and Maria Williams, who originally belonged to Ghana. According to reports, in the 90s, they both had to leave the country and walk through the Sahara region barefoot to reach the Melilla in North Africa, a Spanish territory before reaching Bilbao in Spain.

Maria was seven months pregnant with Nico’s elder brother Inaki when a lawyer and a catholic priest found them accommodation and took them to the hospital too. It was from that priest that Inaki got his name, as the priest was also named Inaki. Without his help, the Williams couple couldn’t find accommodation for themselves in a country where they were strangers.

Nico’s father Felix worked in agriculture and construction to provide food for the family. In addition, his mother also had to share the burden of keeping the regular life going. Not just the parents, but Nico’s elder brother Inaki, now his teammate at Athletic Bilbao, used to work as a referee in local matches even before his career as a pro footballer kicked off. Refereeing in local matches helped Inaki contribute to the family financially before he signed a pro contract with Bilbao.