Mom's wish inspires 5K for cancer research
By Ginny Privitar
CHESTER — Wasil Ahmed has a reason close to his heart for organizing a 5K color run/walk for colon cancer research. Three years ago his mom, Taqdees, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
“My mom’s one of the main reasons I try to do as much as I can at school, for the community, at home, and helping others," said Wasil, 16.
Taqdees Ahmed, who has worked as a teacher’s aide at Chester Elementary School before and after her diagnosis, underwent surgery in 2014. Last year, the cancer recurred, and on April 11, she underwent surgery once again.
Taqdees is a strong woman, but the recent surgery has taken a toll. Wasil says her recovery from surgery is taking longer than it did two years ago. For months, she has been getting chemotherapy treatments.
Wasil and his sister Adeenah, 18, remember a night when their mother was in great pain while undergoing a chemo treatment at home.
“So my sister and I asked my mom, ‘Can we get you anything? Water or Ice?’ She lied and said, ‘No I’m fine.’ But what she did say was, ‘As long as I’m here I want to see you both working as hard you can to be successful.’”
That night motivated her children to do just that.
"I saw it in that moment she could have asked for anything and we would have given it," Wasil said. "Even in her time of extreme pain, she was still looking out for us. She wasn’t even worried about herself. And so for me and my sister, we decided that‘s what we’re going to give her, because nobody else could give her what she wanted.”
“Writing is not really my forte, so to hear I got the primary award (for Chester) was a real surprise," he said.
Winning a primary award meant Chester would pay for his expenses to attend the seminar last June at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. Student Kelly Sadlier won the secondary award.
The conference would turn out to be a life-changing event for Wasil.
“When I got there, the magic really happened,” Wasil said. "Just the environment was beyond unique — I’d never been surrounded by such energy. Everyone had this massive energy, and it was so contagious.”
Motivational speakers convinced students they could accomplish more than they thought. They were instructed to come up with a personal goal they were passionate about.
Wasil had recently been elected president of the Chester Key Club, and he immediately thought of his mom and of doing a fundraiser for colon cancer research.
All the students, who were from New York, were grouped by county and asked to agree on a project. Wasil was suddenly terrified.
“I was scared to present mine because I’d lost my voice and I didn’t want to cry in front of everyone," he said.
Yet he knew it was an opportunity he could not let pass. The fundraiser might turn into a big event.
He asked a friend to present his idea for him.
“He did so, and when people saw I had to excuse myself because I was crying so much, they were like, ‘We really want to help you.'”
To his surprise and gratitude, everyone in the group agreed to pursue his project.
“At that moment, the event went from being a fun experience to a blessing," he said.
“It's truly been a blessing for me to be able to do this for the cause and the tie it personally has to me," he said.
Taqdees Ahmed said of her children, “It’s like a blessing from God. They really work hard. I work hard with them, and now they work hard more than I did with them.”
She reserves good thoughts for herself as well.
“Mentally I’m a strong person," she said. "I will get better. Don’t worry.”