Ozlin & Amirah

Amirah Anuar (pix above)

OZLIN

1) Ozlin, a loving wife and devoted mother to two small children, turned 35 this year. Young and beautiful, this soft-spoken, graceful woman had a whole life ahead of her.

Tapi kita hanya merancang; Tuhan juga yang menentukan (we can only plan, for our fate is in the hands of God). Who would have thought her journey of life would end so abruptly, depriving two little kids of their doting mother, and their daddy a loving spouse.

A colleague of my son Joe, Ozlin succumbed to leukaemia yesterday morning. She was buried in Kuala Lumpur on the same day, after Zohor prayers. Ozlin was diagnosed with terminal-stage leukaemia only two months ago.

Pak Abu and I were on our way to Temerloh, Pahang, to attend the wedding of a niece when Joe called just before noon to inform us of the sad news.

We knew Ozlin because she had joined us on a couple of occasions at the KLGCC (Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club) for karaoke, together with Joe and a few of their co-workers from the advertising agency.

She quit the agency late last year to join her husband who was based in Singapore. Because of that, we didn't get to meet her before we left for the Hajj in November last year. But she did send us a message of good wishes through Facebook.

We shall miss you dear Ozlin. Semoga Allah swt mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohmu dan menempatkannya di kalangan roh-roh mereka yang beriman.

May you rest in peace and may Allah swt bless your soul and place it amongst the pious and the blessed. Al-Fatihah.

AMIRAH

2) Amirah Anuar is a lovely young lady of 24. A smart girl, she completed college with a Second Class Upper in Finance just a couple of months ago, and harbours thoughts of doing her masters degree in the United Kingdom, just like her dad.

Four years ago, at the age of 20, Amirah lost her right leg to cancer. Ever an optimist, this plucky niece of mine, whose mother is my younger sister Ana, takes everything in her stride.

She faces challenges head-on. She makes light of her status as an OKU (physically-handicapped person), preferring instead to concentrate on other worthwhile issues like her studies and her family. Her sunny disposition had, in the past, helped us through during her hours of anguish.

One morning two weeks ago my sister Izah called with the devastating news that after four relatively quiet years, Amirah's dreaded cancer had returned with a vengeance, this time lodging itself in her lungs. All I could do was cry by the phone.

Three new lesions were detected, two in one lung and one in the other. Doctors at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where she was admitted, had determined that the cancer was at stage four and immediate surgery was recommended.

Due to the location of the lesions, she was referred to Institut Jantung Negara (National Heart Institute) for the operation.

Pak Abu and I went to IJN to visit her last Tuesday, a day before the operation. She was understandably nervous and very subdued.

She confided that she was afraid of what lie ahead, and that she didn't relish the idea of undergoing chemoteraphy all over again.

While the four-hour surgery went well, doctors were unable to remove one of the lesions due to its close proximity to the heart. Thus she would have to avail herself to full chemo soon.

Amirah is pragmatic about her chances; medically-speaking, her life expectancy is three years. She is aware of this and has accepted it, as we have, painful and heart-breaking as it may be.

Redha is the word. At our end, we have tried and will continue to try to help Amirah overcome this scourge any which ikhtiar we could. In the final analysis, Allah swt knows what's best, so in Him we put our absolute trust.

We love you Amirah!