Yusuf Hirji: Pickering teen shares cancer story

Like Terry Fox, Yusuf Hirji was thrown a loop as a young athlete with big dreams.

The 16 year old working toward a soccer scholarship thought he had injured his hamstring in July — nothing new to the athletic teen who attends Pine Ridge Secondary School. But this time, ice and rest wouldn’t fix the problem. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

“At first I didn’t know what to think about it,” he says in an interview at Pine Ridge Thursday, about to share his story with students participating in his school’s annual Terry Fox Run.

He has the same type of cancer that Mr. Fox had, and like the Canadian hero, it’s in his leg.

Also like Mr. Fox, Yusuf has chosen to share his story with others. His talk at Pine Ridge was his second so far; he spoke to some kids in Scarborough earlier in the month.

“I hope it makes people more aware how common cancer is in kids,” he says. More: DurhamRegion Article: Pickering teen shares cancer story.

Visit Yusuf Hirji’s blog for his story, photographs, guestbook:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/yusufhirji