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St. Jude patient Imani

St. Jude patient Imani

 

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It was November 2019 and Khurram and Sarah had just welcomed Imani into the world. The first month was filled with all the hallmarks of new parenthood – jubilance, exhaustion and a blossoming love for their child.

But their world turned upside down when Imani was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor at just 5 weeks old. She underwent emergency surgery, but they were only able to remove about 60% of her tumor.

 
Newborn St. Jude patient Imani held by her smiling mother while her father kneels, beaming with joy.

St. Jude patient Imani with her parents

 
 
St. Jude patient Imani and her father smiling into each other's eyes.

Imani as an infant with her father

 

I prayed. I wept. I purchased my baby’s burial plot. 

— Khurram, Imani's dad

 
 
St. Jude patient Imani held by her father, wearing a mask.
 

Then came a phone conversation with an oncologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, who said, "I've treated this before, and some people have been cured."

At St. Jude, Imani received chemotherapy that reduced the tumor enough to allow a new surgery to be performed. The tumor was removed completely.

 
St. Jude patient Imani asleep while held by her mother, her father kissing her mother's head.
 
 

Families, like Imani's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.

 
 

Slowly but surely, Imani began to thrive and put on weight with the help of a feeding tube. She began to roll over. She began to smile. After several more months of chemotherapy, Imani is out of treatment and back at home, growing bigger and stronger every day.

Khurram and Sarah are filled with joy and thanks for the milestones they’ve celebrated, milestones they once thought they’d never see: Imani’s first New Year’s, her first Ramadan, her first birthday and more firsts every day. 

 
St. Jude patient Imani and her family all smiling.

Imani as an infant with her parents

 
 
St. Jude patient Imani sitting on her mother's lap as they read a children's book about Ramadan.

Imani as an infant with her mother

 

She has already amazed me in so many ways. I can only imagine what’s coming in the future but whatever she does, of course, I’ll be so proud.

— Sarah, Imani's mom

 
 

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St. Jude patient Imani being held by her mom and dad

St. Jude patient Imani and her family

 
 
 
 

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