May 14th was Mother's Day in North America and few days before I read on the front page of the Toronto Star about a motivating and very courageous 44 years old Indian woman and mother named Precilla Veigas who migrated from India with her husband and young daughter in 2005 and who earned the PhD she dreamed of in spite of terminal cancer and only having a few months to live.
On that day she received her PhD degree during special ceremony at the University of Toronto's Massey College in advance of official convocations next month and attended by about 45 relatives, friends and colleagues who alternatively whooped and wiped tears during her five minutes speech.
Dr Sandro Rizoli, Veigas's supervising professor and chief of trauma care at St.Michael's Hospital told the gathering - It represents "an exceptional accomplishment by an exceptional person" who determined to become a medical researcher. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer halfway through her doctoral studies in 2015 and given six months to live.
Despite the dire prognosis, she refused to abandon her academic dream but instead used the work she was so passionate about to focus her mind and help her cope with the onslaught of medical tests and treatment followed. Her exceptional journey and strong mind is an ideal example to all of us when we are going through ups and downs and hard times in our lives and even faced with trivial problem we easily get frustrated and loose hopes.
Suresh and Bhavna Patel
Markham, Canada
