"It's up to me to grasp it with both hands and try and make a name for myself in this industry, " Abbot told BBC Radio Cumbria.

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"My hands became stuck like this, " he told me, tensing up his digits into a wooden, claw-like shape.

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He was there shaking hands, firing up the troops, and even signing a few autographs, Carl told me.

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Children would come up to me at the urging of their mothers and put coins or dollar bills in my hands.

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He told me earlier this year Hamas security officials showed up at his home late at night, bound his hands, put a blindfold on him and dragged him to their headquarters, where they shaved his head and cut off his moustache, then released him without apology or explanation.

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