Imran's appeal

Former international cricketing star-turned-politician and charity champion, Imran Khan touched down in Bahrain for a flying visit to meet his friends and supporters on the island and rally support for his cancer hospital in Pakistan, writes Asma Salman.

Although the Pakistani legend retired from mainstream sport more than a decade ago he still has an avid following among cricket lovers. He played international cricket for two decades and led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He is one of the eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches with a record of 3,807 runs and 362 wickets.

Over the years, Imran has drawn great respect and admiration from members of the Pakistani community all over the world for successfully establishing the only, state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Pakistan, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, which has been providing free comprehensive care to over 70 per cent of its patients for more than a decade.

He is a roving ambassador for the hospital and mobilises Pakistanis, both at home and abroad, with his unwavering commitment to the cause.

Speaking exclusively to GulfWeekly on his trip to Bahrain he said: "Shaukat Khanum has a deficit of BD718,951 ($1.9 million) per year. This includes the free treatment of around 75 per cent of the patients who come to the hospital from all over the country.

"We have the only state-of-the-art PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan machines in Pakistan, in our diagnostic centre in Karachi. We are also looking to add another block to our hospital in Lahore to double the capacity and accommodate an increasing number of cancer patients seeking treatment."

The PET scan offers ground-breaking technology in nuclear medicine imaging used to diagnose types of cancers and access the effectiveness of cancer treatment and cost of the equipment starts from BD56,480 ($150,000).

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital was the brainchild of Imran built in memory of his mother who suffered from the disease. Over the years, Imran has worked tirelessly to raise funds for it. The institution has spent over BD38million ($100 million) in supporting the treatment of thousands of cancer patients. Donations are the primary source of funds for its charitable endeavours. In the past well-known personalities like the late Princess Diana, internationally-acclaimed Pakistani music maestro the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan along with Imran's ex-wife, socialite and heiress Jemima Khan have helped him in his fundraising efforts.

"To collect the first ten rupees out of a 100 are the most difficult to raise for charity and I needed the celebrity pull initially to make that happen. Now the hospital itself attracts charity because of its reputation and credibility," he explained.

Imran is also instrumental in laying the building blocks of a knowledge city in the form of Namal College, which sits at the base of a salt range and the beautiful Namal Lake in Pakistan's Punjab province. The technical college is affiliated to the University of Bradford in the UK of which Imran is the chancellor. "Namal College is the only private sector university in the rural areas of Pakistan; all the other universities are in the cities. Most of our first batch of 150 students hail from poor families in that district and out of these 70 per cent are on scholarships from the Bradford University."

A common thread running through all of Imran's projects is charity and a deep sense of social commitment to the people of Pakistan. "The diagnostic centre in Karachi is the first step in making the second Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Karachi and we have already drawn up a master-plan to build another cancer hospital in Peshawar. My future plans include a huge vision of building a knowledge city and I do separate and target fundraising for each project."

Although most Pakistanis would place him on a pedestal as a charity champion, he is considered by some critics to be a 'political lightweight' back home. He founded his political party in 1996 and became the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (movement for justice) and is the only member ever elected into Parliament.

But the charismatic Pathan is unfazed by the criticism and said: "Tehreek-e-Insaaf stands for a change and an independent justice and economic system. My only political role model is our founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Pakistan is important to the entire Muslim world only if it becomes a strong, stable democracy. I oppose the killing of our people in the northern areas by the US drones and calling it collateral damage."

Despite hitting the age of 57, Imran feels on top of his game and confesses that adrenaline is what keeps him going. His focus in life is his work, his political activism and his children.

He enjoys a good relationship with his ex-wife Jemima who now lives in the UK. Their two sons, Sulaiman (14) and Kasim (11) study in England but spend their school holidays with him at his home in the suburban outskirts of the capital city of Islamabad.

He said that he did not rule out one day marrying again.

"There is no plateau in life. The more you challenge your mind and body the less slowly you decay," he said. "You only lose when you give up and every setback is an opportunity to reassess and reanalyse and pick yourself up and start again. In sport I was not better at playing but better at analysing my mistakes and that is how I kept moving up.

"It is only when you get demoralised that you are defeated. Defeat does not defeat me. With every setback I come out stronger in life."

If you wish to support Imran's charitable endeavours make all BD cheques payable to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital - Account # 010-02557-5. US dollar cheques should be made out to Imran Khan Cancer Appeal, Inc. EIN# 13-3626299