My Journey
Shifa Shahzad
A Story of great inspiration of a girl who could not even walk 10 steps without assistance who changed her life completely not only defeating Covid but winning the fight against Diabetes The reason behind my inspiration for this charity is my daughter Shifa. Shifa Shahzad at the young age of only 14 years old contracted Covid and upon finding out that she was also Diabetic she decided she wanted to help other people like her who are going through the same problem in their teenage years. Her journey started the day she found out that she had Covid which changed her life. She had a lot of things going on regarding her Diabetic health and her Covid recovery.
Diabetes/ Covid recovery
After coming back from the hospital her parents got a call from Hillingdon Diabetes/recovery to come in for a blood test and regular check-up. The doctor called her and told her to come to his Office with her mother. It was Dr Jay who diagnosed her with type 2 Diabetes. At this point he told her that she could recover from this. In her heart she had hoped, and in her mind she had a feeling this was possible but questioned whether she would be able to do this. These thoughts would not let her sleep at night. She was feeling guilty about what had happened to her thinking it was all her fault. She and her mother went out of that Hospital crying and upset thinking about how they were going to overcome this situation.
Weight loss
She now has a healthy weight but to be brutally honest at that time after being diagnosed with Covid and also Diabetes it was very difficult for her to give up things she loved such as sweets and fast food. She did not starve herself but started eating less, however hungry she was, guided by the Dietician Doctor of the CYPD Hospital Team who put her on a diet plan. Her life routine was robotic, day and night. She had only 1 goal and that was to recover fast and prove everyone wrong. Seeing people enjoy their favourite foods was really devastating as she was a big foodie. Weight loss was always really difficult for her. She was not actually determined to lose weight but her father always encouraged her although she did not understand why he always said she must lose weight but when she found out that she had Diabetes she realised she was guilty of not listening to her father. Whatever she is today she attributes to her faith in Jesus Christ and to her father’s efforts after she became gravely ill and completely helpless with Covid and diagnosed also with Diabetes2. All her feelings and her hard work cannot be explained in words, but she wants to help all those young people who think that this is not possible, not only physically but also mentally, by sharing some tips and ideas to overcome feelings and thoughts that could have a negative impact. At the time of her severe illness, her weight was 98 kilos but with great encouragement from the CYPD Hospital Team and her Family she has not only managed to lose 33 kilos but also made the great achievement of being completely cleared of Diabetes. What is more she has become a Handball player and not only that but she participated in an National Handball Under 14 Championship in May 2022. On 26 th August 2022 she attended a 3 day Camp in Denmark where she played with Danish International players and was given Handball Training. To have made such progress would have been unthinkable at the time of her illness. She has been a great credit and surprise to her family and friends - from a time when she had no interest in Sport because she was far too heavy she has become very fit and has great motivation and gratitude for her life which has been totally transformed. She has ambitions to become a Doctor.
What she has already done towards her idea of helping people!
Coming from the hospital she and her father decided that they wanted to help people in need. What they wanted to do now was to put this thought into reality. With this in mind she bought 2 money boxes and printed out ‘’Helping People in Need’’ Posters and went from door to door in her neighbourhood asking for donations and offerings of things that would help people in need. She told them that she and her family would add money themselves as well and collect money to help people. The days were cold during Wintertime especially in the UK when it clings in your core and the sun sets at around 3:45pm. In the dark she and her mother went to people’s homes in their neighbourhood hoping for donations. She also asked her family members. Even £1 helped. Her target was to get £10 a day. Some people were nice and donated money but others were not so nice. Some explained nicely that they only donate money to big Organisations and not to door-to-door Charities. People asked for proof this was genuine but because it was her first time trying to help, she had no proof and told people they must trust her on this. She and her family were planning a getaway trip to spend Easter with their family in Pakistan and knew that there was a lot of poverty in Pakistan and that the money donated would do good. They changed the whole £500 they had raised into Rupees which equalled around 1 Lakh and in this way were able to help people in just the ways they had explained to people from whom they had asked donations- for example food and health. Because there were so many people they could only help with food and health they made up bags for people which included lentils, rice, oil, sugar, tea bags, milk and big bags of flour and also soap.