“[D]isease did not deter Kamal from operating as a clinician within the Huddersfield area and also covering as a youth leader the whole of Yorkshire region as a volunteer."
Source/Credit: The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
By Andrew Hirst | May 23, 2016
The winners will be revealed at the ceremony on Thursday
We have now reached the penultimate category in the countdown to the Examiner Pride of Huddersfield Awards.
It’s the Courage Award and here we reveal the shortlist.
The winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Thursday evening at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Tomorrow we will unveil the nominations in our final category which is Friend of the Year.
Kamal Aftab
Kamal Aftab’s dedication to the community knew no bounds ... even when he knew he was terminally ill.
The optometrist had so many projects on the go at any one time and was always exploring new ways to help others.
And even in the darkest hours his inner courage shone through and he was always thinking of others and never himself, setting up a £50,000 charity fundraising campaign once he had been diagnosed to help others in the same situation.
And even while in hospital at St James Hospital in Leeds he did part of a marathon run which his relatives then finished after he had passed away.
He has been nominated for this award posthumously by his brother Yousaf, who lives in Fixby.
It was on June 7 last year that Kamal was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and died exactly two months later on August 7.
Kamal, 33, of Almondbury, served as a regional youth leader for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association and was very active in serving people locally whether it was helping the elderly, visiting the ill, clearing the streets hit by snow, helping out areas devastated by floods, helping raise more than £50,000 for charities both locally and nationally, providing training and development to students and feeding the homeless.
Yousaf said: “This disease did not deter Kamal from operating as a clinician within the Huddersfield area and also covering as a youth leader the whole of Yorkshire region as a volunteer.
“He was very keen while he was alive to serve humanity and give things back to local community. He took on a 26-mile hospital challenge while being treated with chemotherapy at Leeds to raise 50,000 for Bloodwise so the money could be used for research and development and also to further help those suffering from blood cancer.
“Kamal managed to raise £15,000 while he was alive and recently we reached and went above the target of £50,000 – and the total amount sits at over £72,000, including gift aid.”
Kamal was an optometrist by profession and was project manager for an international charity called Humanity First which set up an eye clinic. The project helps those suffering with low vision, cataracts and general visual issues, especially in regions of Africa where the project operates.
Awards have been named after Kamal since he died including from Bradford University (Kamal Aftab Excellence in Low Vision Award), Humanity First (Kamal Aftab Gift of Sight Mobile Clinic) and his own workplace Valli opticians (Kamal Aftab Excellence Award for Humanitarian Services).
Yousaf added: “From diagnosis to passing away Kamal bravery conducted himself to continue to serve people and help from a charitable and humanitarian perspective.”
Kamal was one of five children to parents dad Rafiq and mum Khawar and the others are another brother Farooq and sisters Mansoora and Sabiha.
Read original post here: UK: Pride of Huddersfield 2016 -- Meet the nominees for the Courage Award
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