Story
Welcome to my fundraising page for CoppaFeel!
This November, I will set out on a challenging, extraordinary and life-changing trek, all in the name of checking chests! Along with Gi Fletcher and some other famous faces, I will embark on a 9 day trek in the Indian Himalayas, in a bid to raise funds towards CoppaFeel's life-saving mission.
Your donations will not only support my fundraising target, but most importantly CoppaFeel!. They are on a mission to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their boobs, pecs and chests and getting to know their bodies in order to have the confidence to see their GP if something just doesn't feel normal.
Thanks so much for your donation & support. To find out more about CoppaFeel! head to www.coppafeel.org.
I'm honoured to have got a place, here are some of my application questions+answers:
We’d love to get to know you! Tell us a bit about yourself:
I'm a consultant clinical psychologist in the NHS, adult mental health. Having spent the last few years re-evaluating what it means to be human, as we all have, in its grief, yearning and awesomeness, I am keen to walk with fear - not fearless, but do things despite the fear stoking my belly - and achieve things I have only dreamed of. I've read so many books about the great explorers from Shackleton to Tenzing Norgay, and all those greats who have climbed the mountains of my home country. As a Muslim woman born in the valley of Kashmir, to have the opportunity to trek with you would be the greatest honour of my life. And I bring the hope of all the broken places we know.
What is your motivation for supporting CoppaFeel! and why do you want to take part in CoppaTrek! with Gi 2024?
Personal losses, and losses I've witnessed and held for others working in the NHS, pushed me to my absolute limits. Yet I found an inner zeal and steadfastness that was simply about putting one foot in front of the other, slowly slowly, finding we manage to move through, not around, pain, and the journey is inspiring and renewing. It took me back to the books on my bookshelf of the great mountaineers. Perhaps this is how they tackled their summit. I have a deep yearning to find out.
Cancer is everyone's story. There is not a person nor a home that this inevitability will not befall. It will come knocking and we seem to have moved to a place of seeing it as a chronic illness, not a disease. Coppafeel in particular resonates with me, because as a South Asian Muslim woman, the body is often not her own. Coppafeel brings me closer to the wellness of my own body. I value what you do.
In addition to Giovanna Fletcher, we invite celebrities onto the trek as 'Team Captains'. Who would be your dream captain?
A poet - they would keep our lanterns burning strong. Kae Tempest extraordinaire.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
Being all that is true; so that I can take all the chances in life, unashamedly and full heartedly (whoops that might be three superpowers in one!)
Updates on @sai.masud - I've got 11 months guys 🤞🏽🙏🏾👌🏽🙅🏽♀️
Training treks: Snowdon; Lake District; Peak District; and Ben Nevis to come 🏔️