Ujwal is a young, hard-working (20-year-old) boy who came to Australia for studies to achieve his dreams of giving his family a better living standard and financial support. In February 2015, he was diagnosed with Leukaemia (Acute Myeloid Leukaemia or AML).

Prerna, our founder, came to know about him through an acquaintance. She, along with her close friend Harprit, went to visit Ujwal at the hospital where he was receiving treatment and left in a state of complete shock.

Seeing his frail body ravaged by cancer had seemingly stripped him off his life force. The emotional impact this had on her seeing exactly what this illness does to a person’s body & soul was devastating.

It would be impossible to describe what he was going through because simply seeing it was heartbreaking enough.

Ujwal too was heartbroken and also angry but what stunned Prerna even more than his frailty was his will power; the sheer will and determination which he still had within him.

Where others may have long since given up this guy was able to collect his feelings and thoughts and force himself to never give up.

So inspired were we to see his literal undying attitude that we decided there and then to be a part of his fight and support him through his battle to return to health.

The result was the ‘Help Ujwal’ campaign was launched by Mr. Bipin Karki in the Nepalese community and by Prerna within the Indian community. It should come as no surprise both Prerna and Bipin are now close friends today having come together in the face of such terrible adversity.

As we gained further momentum, Mr. Avinash Shrestha came on board who also brought some of his friends as we all continually drove and pushed the campaign forward, which culminated in the raising of an incredible $88,000 for Ujwal’s Bone Marrow Transplant.

Even more remarkable was that they even secured the help of legendary Indian film actor and one of the most noted comedians in Hindi cinema, Mr Johnny Lever, who supported the fundraising whilst in Australia as part of his national tour. He kindly helped arrange medical help in India too when Ujwal sadly suffered a relapse which further dented his hopes of recovery.

However, Ujwal finally received his bone marrow transplant which was a complete success and is now able to live a cancer free life where he is able to pursue his dreams.

His story led many of us who were close to him to the self-realisation of how valuable and precious every life is. There is so much we as people can contribute to humankind that we simply had to continue to help people.

There is simply not enough awareness about leukaemia and bone marrow transplants and even less amongst the South Asian and South East Asian community.

Ujwal will always remain close to our hearts as our first story and we are happy to say a successful one. His strength and courage throughout his recovery has inspired us more than even he may ever realise.