I first heard from Waheed a couple of months ago. It was a frail voice clear on the long distance call from UK. He had a story to tell. And maybe less time. For I could notice he was breathing heavily. Later I came to know that he is on a ventilator. Waheed's life is not like you and me. And the only solace that he finds is in the memories of his interaction with Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. 'Priyanka is my painkiller,' he says in this poignant account of his life. Reading about him gave me goose-pimples. I thanked God! I think you'll do the same once you read it'.In his own words'.
My name is Waheed Mahmood, and this is the story of my life. I am an 18-year-old who has been born and brought up in the UK. When I was born my doctors were worried I might have a condition called muscular dystrophy because I was very floppy and two of my brothers had died from the same disease. Everyone was unsure about what my future would be. Standing up was impossible. Despite this, I went to nursery and then to a special needs school. Although I could not walk, I could get around in my electric wheelchair. It gave me independence and was everything to me.
Outside of school I loved to watch my friends play cricket and would often be the umpire. I started asking myself questions like 'why can't I walk?' Once I was given some hope that I might walk and join in with my friends' games when I was offered surgery on my contractures. I was very excited the day before it was planned. That hope didn't last because the surgery didn't work. Instead, I got on with my life, reminding myself I could hear, see, talk and had a brain that worked.
One of the things that helped me get over this setback was getting a better electric wheelchair. Because of this, my mates used to call me Michael Schumacher! The chair also helped me play sport, such as wheelchair hockey, table tennis, and snooker. I also liked swimming and with help I could stand and walk in the pool.
At school I was a hard working student - most of the time! I was one of the best maths students in the school and my mates used to call me the 'Maths genius'. I remember I used to help other students with their work and made them laugh by doing impressions of our teacher! At this time I was quite enterprising, selling cakes to make money for my school and making some money for myself dealing in mobile phones. My teacher used to say 'Waheed, you will be a great businessman one day!'
Overall, life was looking very good. But, when I was ten, my illness slowly began to affect my health and lifestyle. This was when the bad times started. Firstly my spine developed a scoliosis, which meant it curved to the left. I had to start wearing a plastic brace to stop it from curving more. Despite this, my spine did get worse and caused my chest to stick out. This, along with my worsening muscle weakness, caused me to develop breathing problems.
For the last 4 years I have spent most of my day lying down, unable to do much, even write, because of my weakness. I rely on people for everything, even things I used to do myself, such as feeding or drinking. I have never weighed 3 stones and, even though I am eighteen, I look so small and thin that you might think I am only ten years old! These things might sound small to you, but they are important to me. Life was pretty depressing, but God then sent me an angel to help me stay happy, strong and confident. The first I saw Priyanka Chopra was in May 2004 in a promo of the song 'Teri Dekh Dekh Ladkaiyan' from the movie 'Asambhav'. Seeing her gave me hope after 4 years of being stuck in the house and only leaving to go to hospital.
Thinking of Priyanka Chopra still helps me. She is a diamond that will never lose its shine. When I cannot sleep until 4am, which happens most nights because I am wracked with pain, or when I am seriously ill, watching one of her movies and seeing her smiling eyes makes me feel more comfortable. I have tried many painkillers, but none has proved to be better than seeing and thinking of Priyanka Chopra. Her smile is my medicine: she gives me the strength to hide my pain and discomfort from my family at home everyday. On occasions she has also been my weakness too, as I worry that if I get more ill I won't ever see her face again.
Since August 2005 things have been particularly scary for me because my left lung kept collapsing, and now does not work at all. I am practically only living on one lung. I was admitted at one point to the intensive care unit. At that time the doctors told me that I could develop a heart attack or heart failure in the future. My family were crying but there were only a few tears in my eyes. I was shocked, but my mind was only saying two things: I'll miss you Priyanka and keep smiling. I got better that time, but 2006 proved to be a bad year too because of continuing lung problems. However, it was also a good year for me because I spoke to my angel. Talking to Priyanka nearly made me speechless! When she offered to keep in touch with me and I asked for her number, I couldn't save it on my mobile phone because my hands had frozen still!
Although you might think that I am frightened of death, what scares me more than that is being unable to see my family, and being unable to see Priyanka Chopra's smile, her eyes, her acting, her dancing and being unable to hear her American accent. I want to thank Almighty God for everything he has done for me, along with Priyanka Chopra and her secretary, Mr Chand, for being very friendly and trying to understand who I am. I want to thank my family for supporting me all the time.
Priyanka ' you are part of my heart ..Even though you are a long way apart...No matter where you are, or who you are,..You will always be my sweetheart.
I have not written this story for fame or sympathy. I have written this story because I wanted to send a message out to people, like me, who are suffering every day with pain and discomfort: be strong, hang in there. Somewhere around the corner there will be a gift sent by God for you'.
