POPULAR Breaking Barriers Islamic talk show host and businessman Inshan Ishmael has been battling cancer for some time.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Ishmael said his prognosis means he could be alive for ‘about two weeks or two years’. He also thanked everyone who extended kind wishes to him.
‘To say this status is late is an understatement, and for this I apologise. Just over one year ago I was hit with the ‘Big C’ -yes, cancer. Since then I have been managing well through the mercy of God, my wife, son, daughters, friends, neighbours and medical team. I have gone from 185 pounds to 145 pounds,’ he reported.
He added: ‘Tonight (Wednesday night) I will hopefully be able to be on air for 15 minutes to expand further.’
Stating that his current situation is a gift and test from God, Ishmael said, ‘I thank him for testing me and not those that I love and cherish around me. Based on present testing, life expectancy can vary from two weeks to two years…Only God knows. Over one year has already gone. I ask God to help me and my team to complete the tasks we have set out to do and to do so not for recognition or fame.’
He thanked well-wishers for their kindness and words of comfort.
‘I am blown away by the show of love shown by complete strangers and those whose lives I may have touched in one way or the other,’ he said.
In June 2005 Ishmael grabbed headlines when as president of the Islamic Relief Centre and together with then Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha secretary general Satnarayan Maharaj, he challenged the name of the country’s then-highest award, the Trinity Cross, as being unconstitutional. In 2008 the award was changed to The Order of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT).
In January 2007, he again received national attention when he was arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act. In October 2017, Ishmael was charged with possession of arms to endanger life, possession of ammunition to endanger life and common assault. He was granted bail of $300,000.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he also engaged in many humanitarian acts towards people negatively impacted, financially and otherwise, by the crisis. Back then he appealed to corporate Trinidad and Tobago to step up in this time of the pandemic and address the concern that ‘if Covid- 19 doesn’t cripple us, a lack of food will’.
