Friday, May 7, 2010

Her Name is Sara

She can normally be seen running alone at the garden almost everyday for about one hour each session, starting at 6pm. Her pace was always steady, and pretty fast too. Never did I spoke to her, except for some occasional waves as we passed each other on the opposite side of the run.

And the last time I saw her running was about, ermm, three months ago I guess. Out of a sudden, I realized she’s not there anymore. Even some of my running buddies here noticed about her absence for quite some times. My assumption was, she moved to some other states for working purpose.

Ok, fine with that.

Except for yesterday, when I saw a glimpse from afar of another female runner that the way of her running resembles the swings and strides as the lady I mentioned earlier, only at much slower pace. Just to make sure I didn’t get the wrong person, I gave a chase. And as I came close to her left hand side I braved myself to take a look at the face of this female runner.

Yup, it was her. The same person. But she appeared with slightly longer hair, and it’s not difficult to see that she had gain some weight too.

I didn't feel good running yesterday. Lethargic. Can't even run non stop for more than 30minutes. I stopped to take a breather at this corner after doing two loops to enjoy the evening view overseeing Selat Tebrau and Singapore.

I slowed my pace down and run besides her. For the first time I started a conversation with her, while running. She was a bit shocked at first, since we’ve never talked before. After a little bit of some self-introductory, I asked about her long absence.

Me: “It’s been a while since you last run here. I thought you’ve move to KL or somewhere.”
Her: “No lah. I was sick. I was hospitalized for a few months. Cancer.”

I was dazed as I heard that. The two most common cancer cases for females are breast and cervix. And she told me she got cervical cancer.

“Fortunately it was detected at a very early stage. And I’ve got it removed. Luckily, or else I would have to do chemotherapy which I don’t want to. I want to keep my hair.”, she told me.

I can’t imagine how her feeling was when she first discovered about the cancer. I can’t imagine how suffering she has been during the operation, and after the operation. I can’t imagine how life will be for her. I can’t imagine how it is, to be related to the word of cancer.

We continued exchanging thoughts related to cancer and running, while finishing the last stretch of our runs. She only did one lap, as she just started running this week and as of yesterday, she still looked a bit weak. I was already on my last lap, out of three. At one point she thought I am a medical practitioner. She looked a bit surprised when I cited a few cancer-related terms that not many people use on daily basis.

“So, what makes you run?”, was my final question to her.

“Because it is something that I love to do. Plus, I like to eat too. So this is the only way for me to balance things up.”, she replied.

And when she returned the same question to me;

“I run because I do triathlon”.

I immediately felt embarrassed, as it abruptly made me realize that I actually don’t really love or don’t have passion in running.

Hang on, I don’t think I have any passions in anything at all.

By the way, as for Sara, I hope she will survive much longer. And I somehow believe, that the spirit of a runner will keep her moving positively in life.

15 comments:

IJAM said...

touching story...err..do get her number?

Diket said...

Sara, I'm running for you & others in the KL-Marathon. Nik, please tell her that. Send my best wishes & regards too the next time you meet her :)

Yimster said...

Sara ...
Go now don't look back we've drawn the line
Move on it's no good to go back in time
I'll never find another girl like you, for happy endings it takes two
we're fire and ice, the dream won't come true ...

SuN said...

"Plus, I like to eat too. So this is the only way for me to balance things up" very-the-jujur answer..kita geng sara :)

ian yusof said...

I'm slowly getting myself involve in cancer awareness especially after so many of friends/relatives lost the battle. The thing is it can be cured only if it is detected at early stage. I pray and hope that Sara fully recovers. Thanks for sharing, Nik.

June Malik said...

- running for her too ..

EnAikAY said...

Ijam,
Yup, it is truly a true story.
I hope i'll bump into here again.

Tuanku Shakhir,
InsyaAllah.. i'll let her know.

Yim,
Thanks.
Is that an English pantun?
Nicely written. U got some talent there.

Sun,
Who doesn't like eating, right?
But not many likes running.

Ian,
I'm sure u have loads of brilliant idea for helping the needy. We shall share our ideas.

June,
Thanks a lot.
Maybe next time when i stumble into her, i'll let her know that my good runner friends in KL are running a marathon for her.

Thank you guys.

dannie chOOng said...

indeed a very encouraging post !!! hope can meet her someday on the road..

tolldoll said...

that's so sad. but she's a fighter. reminds me of my 23 yr old cousin who has been battling leukemia since he was 14 :(

I'm slowly losing my 'touch' (macam pernah ada je!) with running too.... so sad!!! need to fight to run better.

June Malik said...

gonna be an FMV thing, to run for someone, something, be it a cause, a stranger or anything :) tell sara we are with her !!

EnAikAY said...

Dannie,
Thanks for dropping by.
I can't wait to see her on the road again, to tell her how many of you guys are going to run for her.

Nadia,
She's a fighter indeed. Same as all of us here, slow or fast.

June,
If you can come and run at the garden, i'll introduce you to Sara.

Che said...

err.. she share the same reason why i'm running :) (for someone who eats alot!)

all the best for her, we do hope she will recover well and cont doin this for many years to come :)

jiha-run-for-life said...

nik, she's a chinese or malay..if chinese & with a very short hair & always wear white tshirt, i've seen her almost every evening at the garden.. she always looking to the ground while running, so hard for me to say hi or wave at her or even introduce myself..

she's a real fighter..
all the best to her..

IJAM said...

Nik, where's the update for Putrajaya LSD. Tak sabar la nak tengok photo...pc kena virus ke?
Good to run with you nik

EnAikAY said...

Daud,
She's been running since 15years ago... and still continuing.

Jiha,
Yup, it's her. Exactly same as your description.
So, bila lagi nak run sesama kat garden ni?

Ijam,
Dah update dah.
Laptop tak kena virus.. tuan empunya laptop yg kena virus. Itu pasal lambat (read: malas) update.

Good to run with u too.