Paroo was 27 and the president of a Las Vegas hospital when one of the world’s leading philanthropists, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, sent for him. The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader for the 15 million Ismaili Muslims throughout the world. At their first meeting, the Aga Khan expressed confidence that Paroo’s résumé and cultural awareness were ideal to build a bridge from Western health care to suffering in southeast Asia.
Nairobi, December 1967:
Iqbal Paroo, a willful achiever who had climbed Kilimanjaro and captained the cricket team, was home on leave from his training as an 18-year-old Kenyan military pilot. He had no idea that on this afternoon his life was about to change forever. Out for a motorcycle ride, he was struck by a car.
As the doctors at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi were trying to save his mangled left leg, Paroo confronted them: “If it’s not going to get any better, let’s get on with the amputation.” The surgery resulted in Paroo losing his leg above the knee.
Grief spread through his family, whose ancestors had helped build trading routes and businesses across East Africa. For weeks, family and friends wept by his bedside.
“This is awful,” he told the doctors. “I know I lost the leg. I now want to get on with my life.”
And so Paroo took his first big step away from the accident that nearly killed him.
His path led him to Georgia State, which prepared him for his future career of reinventing hospitals around the world and helping alleviate suffering among the world’s neediest people.
Paroo’s personal challenge sparked his global focus on this persistent problem: How can we best enable the sick to heal and get back on their feet?
Click here to read the story/photographs by Michelle Hiskey and Meg Buscema: http://magazine.gsu.edu/2012/09/global-healer/
Related from the Ismailimail Archives:
Ismailimail 
Iqbal,
Your story has inspired us all.
Your encounter with HH The Agakhan was also enlightening and refreshing.
Please continue serving the mankind.
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A great read on the accomplishments of Iqbal Paroo and wish him and his Family all the best for the future.
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