Help Arjun raise money

Last year, at the young age of 32, my cousin Sabrina lost her long battle with cancer to a glioblastoma, the most aggressive and most common form of brain cancer.

Sabrina was first diagnosed with an astrocytoma in 2008 when she was in the second year of her undergraduate degree at McMaster University. In the 15 years that followed, Sabrina underwent various types of treatments, ranging from the tried and true, all the way to some of the most experimental treatments in the field.

The tumour that the doctors discovered in 2008 was successfully surgically resected, and for many years, Sabrina’s condition was stable. When she was 27, Sabrina found out that another tumour had been discovered in her brain, and she underwent radiation and chemotherapy to keep that tumour at bay. Surgery was not an option.

Sabrina was a fighter—and she held her cards close to her chest. She never used her cancer as a crutch (often instead advocating for research and fundraising to fight this terrible illness), and she often didn’t like to talk about her own condition with others.

Nevertheless, in July 2021, Sabrina and her immediate family found out that the cancer had progressed. Respecting Sabrina’s wishes, her family didn’t share her prognosis with the extended family. Sabrina was determined to fight this for as long as she could.

It wasn’t until October 2022 that we found out just how much Sabrina was suffering. Bedridden and decreasingly communicative, the cancer was having profound impacts on Sabrina’s quality of life. In the four months that followed, Sabrina literally fought for her life. Every single day. In December 2022, the cancer metastasized—into other parts of her brain and into her spinal cord.

Before last year, I never understood the insidiousness of cancer. I never understood why people fought so hard—donated, rode, ran, advocated—for cancer research.

I was at the hospital with Sabrina and her parents the day we found out she had three months to live. Aside from the obvious toll that this disease took on Sabrina, I saw the toll that the cancer was having on her loved ones.

I see, and feel, today, the permanent and lasting emotional damage that cancer has on Sabrina’s survivors. Nothing can fill the hole in our hearts that Sabrina’s cancer has left.

Those final months, where Sabrina’s condition deteriorated most rapidly, were the hardest months of our lives.

I finally understand why people fight so hard against cancer.

Every day, I choose to honour Sabrina’s memory, not by remembering her in her last months, but by who she was beyond and in spite of her illness. Sabrina was a leader—within our family and among her friends and the communities she served. I will always remember Sabrina’s intellect, high emotional capacity, and her morbid—and impeccably-timed—sense of humour.

This year, I’m participating in the Toronto Marathon 5K and fundraising in memory of our Sabrina. Our team runs the gamut of marathon experience—some of us are running the full 42.5km, while some (yours truly included) are easing in with a 5K.

I—we—appreciate your support.