Shalin Shah was a recent college graduate and
new Peace Corps volunteer when doctors discovered a rare form of cancer in his
brain. Roughly half a year later, doctors came into his hospital room with the
devastating news that he had just six to nine months left to live.
At the writing of this story, that prognosis
is down to one week.
Throughout the physical and emotional ordeal,
his loved ones say that Shah has demonstrated a profound resilience and peace
of mind. The 22-year-old has tried to live every single day as fully as
possible, including by marrying his high school sweetheart, Frances Chen. Now
the two want to share his hard-won wisdom with the world.
DIAGNOSIS
Born and raised in San Diego, Shah graduated
from the University of Southern California in May 2014. He then shipped off to
Peru to begin two years of service as an economic development volunteer with
the Peace Corps.
“His dream was to help others who are in
need,” Chen told The Huffington Post. She described her husband as “incredibly
kind” and someone who “lives his life to the fullest and isn’t afraid to show
his emotions.”
During his training in Peru, Shah developed a
cough and was having difficulty breathing and severe rib pain, Chen said. Peace
Corps doctors eventually found a six-inch mass in his chest cavity. In August,
Shah was evacuated to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he underwent
21 days of biopsies and emergency surgeries.
Following these tests, the doctors diagnosed
him with stage IV synovial sarcoma — a rare cancer stemming from genetic
mutation — with brain, lung and spinal cord metastasis. He was “in shock,” Chen
said, and had lost over 50 pounds since the beginning of the summer.
“For his whole life he’s been so healthy, so
active,” said Chen. “He never thought it was going to be cancer.”
By December, the cancer had spread to his
lungs, bones and spinal cord.
On Feb. 5, 2015, an MRI scan revealed more
than 30 inoperable brain tumors. He was given six to nine months to live.
“Instead of worrying if I was going to live
or die, this terminal prognosis simplified the equation for me,” Shah wrote in
a blog article on HuffPost.“Now I just had to focus on living out the rest of
my life to the fullest and put all of my energy on having an awesome time
enjoying the best of what life has to offer while leaving behind a positive
footprint and legacy.”
BUCKET LIST
Shah decided to get to work on his bucket
list.
“Don’t ask what end the gods have given me or
you, Leuconoe. How much better it is to endure whatever will be! Whether the
gods have allotted you many more winters or this one is the final one, be wise,
be truthful, strain the wine, and scale back your long hopes to a short period.
While we speak, envious time will have already fled: seize the day, trusting as
little in the next day!”
This quote, adapted from the ancient Roman
poet Horace’s “carpe diem” poem, is how Shah opened an email to his family
members in February, shortly after receiving the terminal prognosis. He
described himself as a “deeply spiritual person” and shared a message of hope:
“I feel as if I was born for this end, this
was my fate from birth, and there is a greater unknown purpose which was meant
for my life which no one may ever figure out. Nonetheless, I am certain that
there is a reason for my early exit and only the heavens know what that is.”
Life had already offered him so many
extraordinary opportunities, Shah wrote. He had lived in Paris for a semester,
found his true love and graduated from college.
“Billions of people around the world would
give anything just to have lived a day in my shoes due to the freedom and resources
I have been blessed with in my life,” Shah wrote. “In the end, there is very
little difference in 22 or 90 years, the true beauty is being blessed with the
gift of life at all.”
“Now, it’s time for us to celebrate as I
seize the day! Together let’s show everyone how you really beat cancer, by
living to the fullest up until the very end!”
Shah had always wanted to go to Coachella,
Chen said, but when she checked in early February, tickets had been sold out.
Chen sent an email to the music and art festival’s general inquiries address
and was blown away by the response. Festival co-founder Bill Fold personally
emailed them to offer the couple a free VIP pass. When Shah and Chen arrived,
staff at Goldenvoice, an organization that does concert promotion for music
festivals, surprised them with luxury yurt accommodations operated by CID
Entertainment, spa vouchers, catering passes and artist wristbands that got
them backstage at any show.
Most notably, Shah was able to meet his
musical hero, Usher, as well as the Black Eyed Peas.
“We had the most incredible weekend of our
lives,” Chen said. “The love and compassion of the entire Coachella team was
felt everywhere we went.”
Shortly after returning from the festival,
Shah and Chen were married in a sunset ceremony in Dana Point, California. They
tied the knot on April 24, just a few months after their five-year anniversary.
“Of course, we capped off the night with an
epic dance party to a playlist heavily featuring Shalin’s longtime musical
idol, Usher,” Chen said.
One thing was still missing, though. Shah had
remained in close contact with Peace Corps staff in Peru, sending them emails
of encouragement and support from afar. At the time he left the program in
August 2014, he had just one week of training to go before being sworn in as an
official volunteer.
Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet
was visiting Peru in April when she heard Shah’s story. Inspired by his bravery
and dedication, she made a stop in Los Angeles to meet Shah and swear him in as
an official Peace Corps volunteer.
“He’s maybe our best recruiter ever,” she
half-joked to HuffPost. He wears his Peace Corps hat religiously,
Hessler-Radelet said, and “continues to promote a message of perseverance and
strength.”
“What’s really remarkable about Shalin is
even though he wasn’t able to be in Peru,” she said, “he was continuing to
serve.”
Last week, Shah went into the medical center
for a routine round of chemotherapy. A day into the treatment, he began having
extreme difficulty in breathing and one of his hands started to go numb, Chen
told HuffPost. Doctors told them that given Shah’s high heart rate and
breathing troubles, he had roughly a week left to live.
“All of our goals are just to make him
comfortable,” his wife said.
Chen said she is keeping herself busy and
focusing on her husband’s needs in order to get through this hard time. “I just
want to stay strong for him,” she added.
Shah’s own optimistic attitude has helped his
family find their strength, said his cousin Aditi Joshi.
“He’s completely shaped the way my family
thinks about life and gratitude. He’s carried the entire family through, and
it’s brought us all so much closer together.”
I’m going to carry this for the rest of my
life,” Joshi added.
“[Shalin has] always loved sunsets. For him,
sunsets really are about taking moments out of your day to appreciate the
beauty in life.”
Shah leaves the world with a final statement,
which appears unedited below:
No room for hatred in my heart
Stay positive, no time for negativity, no
complaints or regrets
Life is perfect. I would not change one thing
about Life or about myself or anyone or anything I know, everyone in the world
is perfect in their own ways and serves a specific role in the universe
Do not judge people (you are no better than
everyone else and they are no better than you, don’t mind yourself with what
others choose to do, truly wish for the happiness of others, be self-confident
and proud of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of who you are because you are part
of an ecosystem that would not be the same without your existence (you play an
essential role in the universe), only concern yourself with your own decisions
and actions, be mindful of how much you need (don’t take more than what you
need) know what you want out of life and only take the necessary resources to
execute your life’s ambitions, minimize gluttony and waste, waste is an
unavoidable part of life, I want everyone else to be as happy as they possibly
can be (I want to help them reach their wildest ambitions, I want to volunteer
and give to the less fortunate, I want to take my more fortuitous situation and
spread it to others
Life is perfect, all of the quirks are what
makes life beautiful, the essence of being a human being is beautiful, time is
a flowing stream and measurements of time (I.e. Minutes, days) distract you
from the fact that time is a constant stream, metaphysics and the workings of
nature are beautiful and I have the upmost appreciation for everything
Keep an open mind: do not have pre-conceived
notions, put in an effort to like things (songs, celebrities, people)
I have an infinite understanding, I
understand everyone else’s decisions because they are fundamentally human like
me and we are all driven by the same intrinsic human nature and I can never be
mad at them for making any decision
Circle of life. Ecological network.
Reincarnation. Nirvana.
The greatest joys come from the simple things
in life. Appreciate the simple things.
Have fun, enjoy life all the time
Bad has to exist in order to appreciate good,
relativity and perspective
Love and happiness are essential forces like
gravity
Show appreciation and thanks to everyone for
even very small acts
There is no need to try to impress others and
make them jealous, do what you want to do, no matter what you do in life you
cannot be arrogant
because everyone is human, no better or worse
than you. At the same time, there is no reason you should feel jealous or
insecure around others regardless of their lives, achievements, good looks,
wealth, etc.
Open a meditation center and teach others how
to live happier lives
Enjoy everything you do, even those which you
do not like doing
Giving to others is an act of spreading love
Do not do things for personal gain, do not
take advantage of others, do not look for recognition or praise
Don’t compete with others or compare yourself
with others
Fill yourself with energy, boundless energy
(feel alive)
Life is what you make of it, put in effort to
excel. Make the most of what you have
Life is not a competition
No right/wrong way to live your life
There is no such thing as better, only better
suited.
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