\n Girlington dad-of-four Inzar Iqbal, who described himself as being a super fit athlete, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2021.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was a battle he would face alongside his 17-year-old daughter Hannah’s thyroid cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n The doctors told Inzar he only had just over a year to live if he did not undergo treatment as soon as possible.\n<\/p>\n
Bradford man talks about cancer battle<\/p>\n
\n Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, Inzar said: “I was shocked. I could not believe it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have been a very fit athlete for most of my life. I just couldn\u2019t swallow it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Why me? I watch what I eat, and I am in good shape.”\n<\/p>\n
‘One of the most aggressive treatments out there’<\/p>\n
\n He added: “They said if I didn\u2019t have treatment, you have got around 14 months to live because this will rapidly take over your life and before you know it you will be gone.\n<\/p>\n
\n “So, I just cracked on with the treatment from there.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I had three cycles of chemo, and then a stem cell transplant at St James.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was probably one of the most aggressive treatments out there. I lost my hair and about three stones.”\n<\/p>\n
‘It was very hard for the family’<\/p>\n
\n The 47-year-old carried on training boxers until physically it became too much.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “I continued with the boxing and did not tell anybody until it got to a point when my bones started to ache and I got questions about the weight I was losing.\n<\/p>\n
\n “That is when I packed it in.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Then he discovered his daughter was going through the same struggle.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was battling with her,” he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was getting treated and at the same time attending appointments at the LGI for her.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We were in this together me and my daughter. It was very hard for the family.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The pair would thankfully go on to gain the all clear.\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar got the news in 2024 following a bone marrow test and went into remission.\n<\/p>\n
Relief as Inzar ‘one of the lucky ones’<\/p>\n
\n His reaction to the good news was one of relief.\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar believes he is one of the lucky ones after discovering people on his ward did not make it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was a massive relief,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Mentally it really affected me because I could not get over that a fit person like me was so vulnerable at the same time.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar added: “There was a lot of people in the wards that didn\u2019t make it. It was quite tough.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I keep saying that I am one of the lucky ones to get through it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It wasn\u2019t the same for the people around me. I am very fortunate for that.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar Iqbal alongside coach Maj in the new gym (Image: UGC)\n<\/p>\n
Lights Out boxing gym reopens<\/p>\n
\n Last month, Bradford East MP Imran Hussain went down to reopen Lights Out boxing gym on Kirkgate in the city centre.\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar said: “People were over the moon when we reopened.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I got so many messages and cards saying it is so good to have you back.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have developed a good relationship over the years with the community. They were so happy that I was back.”\n<\/p>\n
Boxing world champion fighting similar battle<\/p>\n
\n During his three-year battle, Inzar spoke to former world champion boxer Australian Billy Dib who had a similar fight on his hands on the other side of the globe.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Me and Billy Dib were in hospital at the same time.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He was four weeks ahead of me in terms of his treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He told me I could get through it. It was good talking to him at the same time, knowing I am not alone in this battle.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Inzar concluded by saying: “People are dying from cancer everyday so for me to comeback from it, it is a massive relief.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Lights Out boxing gym offers classes every\u00a0Tuesday, Wednesday, and\u00a0Thursday.\n<\/p>\n
\n Junior are in from\u00a06-7pm, and the senior classes are\u00a07-8pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Girlington dad-of-four Inzar Iqbal, who described himself as being a super fit athlete, was diagnosed with leukemia in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-334896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115008371103918869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}