Five-year-old cancer warrior flies high
Nothing compared to the wonder in the eyes of the little boy who had been given a second chance at life.
Little wide-eyed Naasir Chand came enveloped in the arms of his family, meeting one caring stranger after another, all focused on making his dream come true.
Five years ago, the parents of twin boys Tayyibah and Aslam Chad welcomed their third son into the world. Even though their youngest was born normal and healthy, he was admitted to hospital four months later with septicaemia, or blood poisoning.
After various visits to the paediatrician, admissions to hospital and being prescribed a variety of medications, little Naasir went for a CT scan. The following day the family received life-changing news. The doctor had confirmed an eight centimetre mass on Naasir’s liver.
“We took him for a biopsy and they confirmed that our six-month-old son had hepatoblastoma – a rare form of liver cancer that is common in early childhood. Our tummies went into knots, our legs trembled and our hearts thumped after hearing this,” Tayyibah explained.
Their infant warrior had no other option but to fight through chemotherapy every third week – which was administered throughout that week – for six months. After life-threatening surgery to remove the tumour at only ten months old, Naasir spent two weeks in hospital before his parents could take him home. He had two chemotherapy sessions left to complete.
“With prayers and the support of friends, family and even strangers we were blessed to hear just after Naasir’s first birthday that he was cancer-free. Naasir became our life lesson,” Aslam said.
He is now five years old and happily attending school. He has achieved many milestones and is loved deeply by family and friends who consider themselves blessed to have a true cancer warrior in their family – a little boy who was given a second chance at life to reach goals and realise his dreams.
Naasir has always dreamt of riding in a helicopter. When the Reach for a Dream Foundation heard this brave little warrior’s inspiring story, they decided to make one of his biggest dreams come true.
On Saturday, February 26 emergency services including Fidelity Security Group, Fidelity ADT Security Services, ComMed, local police and their Search and Rescue Unit, Fire Ops SA and Netcare 911 all gathered at Fidelity Ruimsig’s hangar in honour of the five-year-old’s brave battle.
There, Naasir and his family got to meet various caring officials who commended him for a battle well fought. He also got to meet Mounted Unit horses, and a K9 Unit four-legged member named Duke, after which he explored the inside of the Fire Ops SA truck and enjoyed some well-deserved pizza and cold drinks with his family.
At the end of the celebrations, Naasir, his two brothers and their father were gifted a very special experience by the Fidelity Security Group.
They had the opportunity to see the sky as through the eyes of a soaring bird when a Fidelity helicopter took them on a flight around the area. Nothing compared to the wonder in the eyes of the little boy who had been given a second chance at life.
“It was an absolute honour and privilege to be approached by Reach for a Dream. In our business we deal with so much heartache and pain every day that we jumped at the opportunity to make a young man like Naasir’s ultimate dream come true,” CEO of Fidelity Services Group, Wahl Bartmann said.
“Seeing the joy on his face was priceless, and we all felt so humbled. Thank you for approaching Fidelity and for reminding us how important it is to stop and focus on these invaluable moments. We give Naasir and his wonderful family all our blessings and good wishes.”
