Meet Our Supporters: Usama Saleem

‘If I look at myself, I still do not believe that I made the impossible possible.’

Usama Saleem is originally from Lahore (Pakistan) but lives in Bradford now. He participated in Imran Khan Cancer Appeal’s Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge (Y3P) in September. We caught up with him after the event to ask him about the experience.

Thank you, Usama for taking part. How did you find the experience?

“It was a great experience. And I encourage people to donate to cancer patients who can’t afford cancer treatment.”

What motivated you to sign up for Y3P?

“It was actually because of the help of Allah and the prayers of my mother and encouragement from the people involved in the challenge that gave me the courage. If I look at myself, I still do not believe that I made the impossible possible.”

That’s such a humble and lovely sentiment. It’s clear that family is very important to you. And we understand there was another family member whose memory you were honouring by taking part…

“Yes. Actually, by crossing this Yorkshire 3 Peak challenge, I wanted to express my love for my brother and my pain of losing him. This challenge was part of the process of getting help to make myself stronger. I feel that by doing this, I can raise awareness among people, which can help prevent innocent lives from being lost. With such activity, I want to attract people to support peaceful causes.”

Any last words?

“I am very grateful and congratulate you for organising this activity in the best way and making it successful.”

We’re encouraged by supporters like Usama who use personal tragedies to work for positive change. By helping others, we often realise we’re actually helping ourselves first.

If you’d like to take part in Y3P next year, keep checking back to our Challenge and Events page where we’ll be broadcasting dates and details for our 2024 challenge very soon.