JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Princess Safar has now been cancer-free free nine years, after her battle with leukemia at just six years old.
While the labs, chemotherapy, and time in the hospital are now in the rearview mirror, her brother, Hisham Safar, told Action News Jax in an interview Thursday that they’ll never get back the childhood moments they lost together to the disease.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
“I just remember going home with just me, my dad, and the girls would just stay at the hospital, and like, it was rough, you know, like it was scary,” Hisham said. “I felt really bad for my mom, like she was so sad, like, constantly, I don’t know. I couldn’t do anything about it, as I was eight years old.”
However, one way they have been able to make up for lost time: through the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund siblings program, which provides once-in-a-lifetime experiences for those siblings after recovery.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Hisham and Princess even got to go on the field at EverBank Stadium together during a Jacksonville Jaguars pre-game.
“Having these events, getting to spend time together, it’s super important,” Hisham said. “It’s like, to get that family bonding time so we’re not, like, getting distant. So that’s very important for us.”
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hisham said programs like the Jay Fund are so important, especially considering just how lonely it can be for siblings of those going through their cancer battle.
“It was super lonely, right? Like, I just remember, like, going home, and they’re all out of hospital, and I’ll just be playing on my computer,” Safar told Action News Jax. “It just gives you something to relate on. And it doesn’t have to be a sad thing, like, you might as well make it into a positive one, where positive one, where you can make more friends from it and get some more experiences from it.”
To learn more about the Jay Fund Sibling Support Program, click here.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
