That Talk I Will Remember...

I could still remember vividly that moment when I got a phone call from a dear friend of mine, Firdaus Rahim, a medical student in the University of Nottingham. Firdaus invited me to share some tips on surviving as a university student for the new Malaysian students who have recently arrived in the United Kingdom for their respective studies. But more importantly, Firdaus requested that I share a portion of my experience as a university student living with a disease anyone will dread hearing, CANCER.

I have always been the type of person who loves to share to others, especially on things I know people can benefit hugely from. As eager as I was to share my experience to the new fellow Malaysian students, I had a difficult decision to make.

When the invitation from Firdaus came, I had only just finished my ESHAP chemotherapy a week back, and was still very much recovering from tiredness and all the other associated side effects of the medication. Looking at the date of the talk (which was on the 17 October 2009), I wasn't sure if I've had enough rest to deliver my talk. Furthermore, the location of the talk was about 45 minutes drive from Sheffield, so that further complicated the issue as I would then need to travel out of the city.

Having given a deep thought about it, I knew there could only be one answer. I WANTED to deliver the talk. This is my opportunity to not only share my humble experience, but also educate people about my disease. So I gave the thumbs up to Firdaus, and prayed to Allah that He make things go smoothly for me.

I rented a car and drove it to Welesby Forest, Nottinghamshire, where the event took place. My talk was scheduled at 8pm, and I gave an hour and a half talk to the participants present. By the time the event for that night finished, it was already around 11 pm, and I was contemplating on staying there for the night. However, given the cold weather and the less than conducive accommodation, I decided to return to Sheffield that same night, for fear I might catch unwanted infections and affect my recovery from the recent chemotherapy. As I reached Sheffield around 1 am, I barely had much energy left. But it didn't matter. I was happy that I could share something so profound to me, to my fellow friends, with the hope that they will gain many benefits from it.

And now, almost 7 months down the line, I thought that I should share it to more people. Thus I consulted the person responsible for producing the video clip of my talk, Hanafi from the University of Leeds, if he wouldn't mind me sharing some of the clips of my talk. Hanafi was more than happy for the clips to be shared, and here are some of them...


1. Introduction




2. My big test in life




3. Approaching our trials via the teachings of the Quran




As the talk was quite a long one, I have decided to cut it into several segments, all carrying different themes. The three shown above are the first few I've uploaded on YouTube, and insha Allah I will try to upload some more of the clips in the near future.

There will inevitably be mistakes or shortcomings in the content of my talk, and I therefore beg forgiveness from everyone. My only wish is for everyone watching them to benefit from this little knowledge I have, from this precious experience I've gone through, and from this passion I have for 'giving to others'.

Barakallahu fiik!