An Altona North man and his team will take to the track for next month’s Relay for Life at Etihad Stadium after his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer.
Oussama Abou-Zeid says his team, Inshallah, has raised $13,000 so far, ranking it No.2 in Australia for the most money collected for the Cancer Council.
Mr Abou-Zeid said his grandmother, Fattoum Kaddour, was diagnosed with brain cancer during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. She underwent an operation to try to remove a tumor and last week started radiotherapy.
“It’s very, very hard because this is the first time someone this close has been affected by cancer,” Mr Abou-Zeid said. “Inshallah means God willing, so God willing there’s going to be a cure for cancer,” he said.
“As a team, we are mostly family, but have a mix of friends participating who have been touched by cancer.
“Some of us relay for our cancer survivors, some for a current Hodgkin’s lymphoma sufferer and the rest for my grandmother who has glioblastoma multiforme. [She is] the mother of seven siblings who are relaying and the drive behind the team formation.”
The Inshallah team will do the eight-hour relay while Ms Kaddour will do the survivors and carers lap. To donate, visit fundraising.cancer.org.au and search for Inshallah.
