To Ahmed Alhabib "who taught our hearts how to dance"
Muna Alyusuf is raising money for Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
In memory of Ahmed Alhabib
Story
Thank you for visiting my nephew Ahmed Alhabib's just giving page, to donate to MSF is to honour and remember Ahmed's life in a profound way.
On the 7th of December 2018, Ahmed passed away while on an emergency room shift, doing what he loved doing most. He was treating children at Georgetown MedStar University Hospital, Paediatric Unit.
If a word could sum up who Ahmed is, it would be "JOY", one of his friends wrote.
Ahmed was nine years old when he was diagnosed with type one diabetes. Counterintuitively, he was the one to comfort his family. As he grew older he started treating his diabetes as a condition which had to be managed. At the age of thirteen/fourteen he realised his purpose in life was to become a doctor. Those who know Ahmed know "the doctor title didn't matter to him", what mattered was to heal and serve. "He always talked about wanting to go to places where doctors are most needed and wanted to be at the service of people in need. He wholeheartedly enjoyed his work with underprivileged communities" at Hospital Antonio Lorena, Cuzco, Peru and Chicago, USA, and his next humanitarian endeavour was going to with village health works in Burundi.
Ahmed spent the last eleven years of his young life at RCSI, Dublin, Ireland and Georgetown MedStar University Hospital, Washington DC, studying and practicing medicine. He enjoyed every second in service of his patients, especially children.
Ahmed would repeatedly say that "It was not fair that young people from underprivileged communities couldn't go to medical school".
"He has a genuine heart and pure soul. Ahmed loved being a doctor. He can make everyone smile which was best fit for him to be a paediatrician. He knew that kids would love him and he would be their hero everyday".
"He was not afraid of volunteering and treating patients in challenging neighbourhoods as he believed that helping people was always the right thing to do for a doctor. Ahmed loved being a "paediatrician", and loved working with children and talked about his patients as "my kids" with so much joy. He was always the gentleman with the parents of his kids no matter how difficult the situation. He enjoyed finding funny cool toys for his "kids"".
Ahmed's message to one of his friends was "Just be a good human, give out positive energy to as many people as you can even if it doesn't come back it doesn't matter. Just keep doing good positive things for people around you especially your family and friends. Let curiosity guide you toward finding what you want and always give people the benefit of doubt because you are not in their shoes".
"He was always himself, full of courage, positivity and love for the world and everyone in it no matter who they are. He just enjoyed connecting with people and he was able to strike up conversation with just about anyone. People gravitated towards Ahmed because of his positivity and the joy he brought to any place he was in".
"Ahmed was always a breath of fresh air no matter how bad of a day you were having. Ahmed's friends and colleagues would agree that he was always 100% present in the moment, fully immersed in every conversation, in every experience. He always made whomever he was speaking with feel as if they were the most important person in that moment, like you had his full attention".
"He was always welcoming, engaged and was fun. With him you know he is paying attention to you and you can have a profound conversation. As some of his friends would say that he was the life of every gathering and he was always happy. His aura, his positivity and his beautiful heart are contagious".
Ahmed loved life, people, his family, his friends, nature, food, sports. He always extended food to the homeless he met on his way. To his friends he is their best friend and will always be. As one of his friends say "Ahmed taught us about friendship and how to take care of one another and go the extra mile to make sure that everyone is okay"
Ahmed loved languages and was fluent in Arabic, English, Spanish and French, and tried his best to converse with children and their families in their own languages.
He loved hiking/trekking, swimming, biking, skiing, football, basketball, tennis, squash, camping, travelling, marathons/triathlons and many other sports & games. He loved music, songs and dance
Ahmed will be mostly remembered for his contagious smile/laugh; his genuine empathy for others as well as his optimistic outlook on life.
As his colleagues said in their dedication
"To Ahmed Alhabib who taught our hearts how to dance"
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