By SHERI SHEFA
Staff Reporter
Samantha Fried and Barak Ben-Nathan
TORONTO - About 200 people gathered to pay their last respects late last month to Barak Ben-Nathan, a 24-year-old man who died June 24 after a year-long battle with testicular cancer.
In an Internet blog called Barak’s Health, created to inform family and friends about his condition, Ben-Nathan – who was buried June 28 in South Africa, where his parents, Rami and Hanna Ben-Nathan, live – explained how he first discovered he had the disease.
“This whole ordeal began last year in 2005, when I was in Israel with my family, around April. I began to feel some stomach and lower back pains, which were quickly shrugged off as being a result of the crappy mattress that I was sleeping on,” Ben-Nathan wrote.
The symptoms continued when Ben-Nathan, a York University student, returned to Toronto.
“The stomach pains persisted, so I went to my local doctor at [York], who prescribed me some antacids… The abdominal pain persisted, and I also began to feel a sharp pain stemming from my left testicle. I returned to the same doctor, who then booked me an ultrasound at a local clinic… At the ultrasound, I was told that I had a four-centimetre mass in my stomach.”
The night before a scheduled CT scan, his girlfriend, Samantha Fried, rushed Ben-Nathan to the hospital because he was in extreme pain. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and two days later, his left testicle was removed.
He explained that by the time he was diagnosed, the tumour had metastasized in the lymph nodes in his stomach. His doctors considered a stem-cell transplant, but Ben-Nathan would first have to undergo painful chemotherapy for a year in the hope it would make the tumours inactive long enough to do the transplant.
Although early on it seemed that the tumours were responding well to the chemotherapy, they never stayed inactive long enough for Ben-Nathan to receive the stem-cell treatment.
At the June 28 memorial service, held at Chabad Lubavitch of Markham, Ben-Nathan’s best friends, Dori Borshiov and Arryn Greenspan spoke not about the tragedy, but about how Ben-Nathan dealt with it in such a courageous way.
“He exemplified character traits that not only inspired me, but also those he surrounded himself with to always live life to the fullest,” Greenspan said.
“On the day that Barak found out there was no more the doctors could do for him, he got up and went to a concert with another great friend of ours. His perseverance and love for life never diminished throughout even the most difficult times,” he added.
Borshiov said that Ben-Nathan, who was originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, but was living in Toronto on a student visa, used himself as an example of why people should learn to live in the moment and cherish loving relationships.
“He inspired people to call home, to spend time with their grandparents. A friend of his took it upon himself to visit sick people in the hospital,” Borshiov said. “Barak led by example. He wouldn’t try to draw a lot of attention to himself, he would just do it.”
Despite the obstacles brought on by the disease, Ben-Nathan, who was passionate about music, still managed to graduate with a bachelor of fine arts, with honours, from York University.
“His passion for music translated into how he lived his life,” Borshiov said.
To remember that passion, Borshiov and Greenspan suggested that people donate to the Rubin Conservatory of Music in Haifa.
“This is an organization that offers comprehensive musical education to children in Haifa aged four to 18 from all social, economic, and religious backgrounds. We know that both music and Israel were both very dear to Barak’s heart, and this would be a great way to honour his legacy,” Greenspan said.
Borshiov also mentioned that he and Greenspan are organizing a class about “Why bad things happen to good people?” in an attempt to help people cope with Ben-Nathan’s death.
Before stepping down from the podium, Borshiov pleaded with the gathering to get checked for cancer by their doctors, because early detection dramatically increases a person’s chances of survival.
For more information about Ben-Nathan’s fight against cancer, visit his blog at www.myhealth.blog.com.
Staff Reporter
Samantha Fried and Barak Ben-Nathan
TORONTO - About 200 people gathered to pay their last respects late last month to Barak Ben-Nathan, a 24-year-old man who died June 24 after a year-long battle with testicular cancer.
In an Internet blog called Barak’s Health, created to inform family and friends about his condition, Ben-Nathan – who was buried June 28 in South Africa, where his parents, Rami and Hanna Ben-Nathan, live – explained how he first discovered he had the disease.
“This whole ordeal began last year in 2005, when I was in Israel with my family, around April. I began to feel some stomach and lower back pains, which were quickly shrugged off as being a result of the crappy mattress that I was sleeping on,” Ben-Nathan wrote.
The symptoms continued when Ben-Nathan, a York University student, returned to Toronto.
“The stomach pains persisted, so I went to my local doctor at [York], who prescribed me some antacids… The abdominal pain persisted, and I also began to feel a sharp pain stemming from my left testicle. I returned to the same doctor, who then booked me an ultrasound at a local clinic… At the ultrasound, I was told that I had a four-centimetre mass in my stomach.”
The night before a scheduled CT scan, his girlfriend, Samantha Fried, rushed Ben-Nathan to the hospital because he was in extreme pain. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and two days later, his left testicle was removed.
He explained that by the time he was diagnosed, the tumour had metastasized in the lymph nodes in his stomach. His doctors considered a stem-cell transplant, but Ben-Nathan would first have to undergo painful chemotherapy for a year in the hope it would make the tumours inactive long enough to do the transplant.
Although early on it seemed that the tumours were responding well to the chemotherapy, they never stayed inactive long enough for Ben-Nathan to receive the stem-cell treatment.
At the June 28 memorial service, held at Chabad Lubavitch of Markham, Ben-Nathan’s best friends, Dori Borshiov and Arryn Greenspan spoke not about the tragedy, but about how Ben-Nathan dealt with it in such a courageous way.
“He exemplified character traits that not only inspired me, but also those he surrounded himself with to always live life to the fullest,” Greenspan said.
“On the day that Barak found out there was no more the doctors could do for him, he got up and went to a concert with another great friend of ours. His perseverance and love for life never diminished throughout even the most difficult times,” he added.
Borshiov said that Ben-Nathan, who was originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, but was living in Toronto on a student visa, used himself as an example of why people should learn to live in the moment and cherish loving relationships.
“He inspired people to call home, to spend time with their grandparents. A friend of his took it upon himself to visit sick people in the hospital,” Borshiov said. “Barak led by example. He wouldn’t try to draw a lot of attention to himself, he would just do it.”
Despite the obstacles brought on by the disease, Ben-Nathan, who was passionate about music, still managed to graduate with a bachelor of fine arts, with honours, from York University.
“His passion for music translated into how he lived his life,” Borshiov said.
To remember that passion, Borshiov and Greenspan suggested that people donate to the Rubin Conservatory of Music in Haifa.
“This is an organization that offers comprehensive musical education to children in Haifa aged four to 18 from all social, economic, and religious backgrounds. We know that both music and Israel were both very dear to Barak’s heart, and this would be a great way to honour his legacy,” Greenspan said.
Borshiov also mentioned that he and Greenspan are organizing a class about “Why bad things happen to good people?” in an attempt to help people cope with Ben-Nathan’s death.
Before stepping down from the podium, Borshiov pleaded with the gathering to get checked for cancer by their doctors, because early detection dramatically increases a person’s chances of survival.
For more information about Ben-Nathan’s fight against cancer, visit his blog at www.myhealth.blog.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment