Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Magic show, stand-up comedy acts and gifts, it was the “best ever” party for 12-year-old Gurnoor Singh as he celebrated Christmas and life, ironically inside a hospital where he is fighting leukaemia.

Gurnoor was diagnosed with cancer in March this year and life has been an emotional roller-coaster ride for him and his family since then.

“I lost my hair after the chemotherapy and wouldn’t go to school as I felt embarrassed. I find it difficult to suppress my urge to eat things I love the most because of the disease,” Gurnoor, who was accompanied by his mother, told IANS.

“The situation did improve some months back but now I’ve again started losing hair,” added the youngster who admitted that the turban atop his thinning hair has failed to pacify him.

Terming it as the best Christmas party he ever had, the student of Springdales School at Amritsar said the magic show was his favourite.

“Celebrating life” was organized by the Indraprastha Apollo hospital here Thursday to commemorate “Cancer Survivor’s Day” where more than 50 cancer patients of all ages shared their experience and motivated each other to fight the disease.

For 59-year-old S.L. Rastogi, a cancer survivor for the last 15 years, the event successfully raised the spirits of the audience particularly the “hasya kavi sammelan (humour poetry gathering)”.

“I was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1996 and the location of the tumour was between my heart and lung. But effective treatment has cured me,” said Rastogi who opined that adequate insurance and family support are all that a cancer patient needs.

Agreed 56-year-old Sadhna Sharma who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and, as per her doctor, had only six months to live.

“I have a strong will power and decided to fight. The support I got from my family was a major booster,” Sadhna told IANS.