(CNN) -- Mahmoud Sarsak is twice the man he used to be.

The diminutive Palestinian soccer player is sitting in a small cafe in central London, tired but otherwise surprisingly healthy for a man who had lost half his body weight during a hunger strike 12 months ago.

It is his first visit to the British capital but, like many who try to leave Gaza, his journey was long and far from easy.

"The Rafah border (between Gaza and Egypt) was closed for days because of the kidnapping of soldiers in Egypt.