Isaac Zahra’s process of settling down as a medical student at the University of Malta was quite uneventful at first – it was full of days of waking up at ungodly hours to study, copious amounts of reading, the medical placements and the occasional hang-out with friends.
But as he progressed to his third year, something changed his life for the worse. After going into hospital for some routine blood tests, he was diagnosed with leukaemia, a type of cancer in his blood. One minute, he was leading a normal life, the next he found himself at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre receiving a round of chemotherapy. This was followed by four months in the UK where he received a bone marrow transplant.
One huge ordeal later, and Isaac is one of the lucky ones – thanks to the support of his family, friends, the doctors and nurses who took him under their care, and Puttinu Cares who gave him another push, he managed to recover.
It’s been two years since he was declared in remission, and he got back to his medical studies, soon graduating as a doctor.
“We take life for granted sometimes, and the moment this freedom is taken away from us is when we realise, we shouldn’t. If you have the time to show some affection to someone, don’t let that chance slip away from you,” the young man told the University of Malta’s news portal Newspoint.
Check out Isaac’s story in this short video above.
