Waheen Arian : the Doctor that Saves Lives over the Pne

by Muhammad Sahil

As previously mentioned, Dr Arian is the founder of the Arian Teleheal charity which was found back in 2015 but now I’m going to analyse some key events during his life which I believe give a real insight into the type of person which man has transformed into, not just a doctor but an optimistic hero.

 

Growing up during a civil war in Afghanistan must have been tough and Waheen’s recollection of events certainly was nothing to forget. 

One moment he vividly remembered was during a period of bombing. “My father knew we had only minutes before the bombs reached us” he said. They rushed to a nearby village in which his father had found a house where he hid his son in a bread oven. As the sky darkened, they began to migrate to Pakistan via caravans. Travelling beside them was also around 20-25 families. With little food including some bread and sugar, this was a tough journey. When the sun rose they would hide, waiting for the safest moment to resume travel. Along the journey they faced three attacks from air forces/tanks. Having completed the Journey seven days later, they arrived at the refugee camp in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Though safe, the conditions were poor. Ten living in one room, temperature highs of around 45 degrees, disease was destined to spread. Many caught malaria along with Waheen himself contracting Tuberculosis.

However this was the turning point because it was at this stage in which Waheen’s ambition to become a doctor had took its shape. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed during the Soviet-Afghan war nonetheless, Waheen stated how his doctor always had a smile on his face. Not only providing medical assistance but since there were no toys and so consequently leaving Waheed bored, the doctor gave him an old stethoscope along with a medical textbook. This was the spark for this Waheen’s future.

Following the three years in camp, Waheen returned to his home town in Kabul the capital of Afghanistan. All was not safe despite the departure of the soviets. Civil war continued,  but as Waheen described it, “war became normal.” Hiding in the cellars was routine for those back in Kabul, desperate to avoid the bombs,shells and rockets that fell.

It was difficult to get any sort of education at the time with schools closed. Consequently Waheen decided to learn English himself through listening to the BBC Worldservice on the radio. Furthermore through the purchasing of books from the streets he self taught himself. The war may have prevented him from going to school but it wasn’t going to stop him from learning.

A fresh start 

At only 15 years old, Waheen began a new life in the UK. His parents believed there was no future for him back home so they believed this was the right step ahead. 

By the time he arrived in London, he stayed with a family friend for a week and then moved into a flat amongst other refugees.

Despite his aspiration to become a doctor, he initially took on a job as a Salesman on Edgware Road in order to pay for general needs such as food/clothes but he wasted no time while at it. Hiding GCSE books under the counter to read when the shop was quiet. This young boy would take any chance to live the job he dreamed of becoming. Fortunately he  just about gained acceptance to a college after persuading them to allow him to take an assessment, in order to study A levels.

During his time in college he astonishingly achieved 5 A grades in five AS subjects. However he still had more studying to do and so altogether he was enrolled at three different colleges, lessons running both in the day and evening. He was never short of dedication.

He’d go onto fighting the odds. From being told to just become a taxi driver or work in a chicken shop just like many other foreigners at the time, to know wanting to apply to Cambridge University. His desire to apply came from meeting a student who had just graduated and suggested to Waheed that he should give it a go aswell. All his tutors were filled with disbelief. No one had ever got into Cambridge from the colleges he went to. However having achieved A’s in all his subject, he decided to give it a go. The boy who survived war and didn’t even have an proper  education until the age of 15 has now been accepted into Cambridge. To be able to catch up with so much work and putting in the effort to study at every possible chance is just unimaginable. Even students at the very best colleges don’t all make it in.

 

For someone who had financial struggles also in back of his mind, it was going to be tough. Working part time jobs, but also studying at the same time  was tough but fortunately he had support from his senior tutor along with a doctor names John Bradley.

Following his graduation in 2006, he went on to finish his clinical studies at Imperial college and even gained a scholarship to take an elective at Harvard. Finally he qualified as a doctor in 2010, working in various UK hospitals. As the years went by, he eventually became a radiologist and emergency specialist. 

The road to telehealth

Dr Arian never forgot where he was from.  The struggle he went through during the war had given him the spark to go back to Kabul and help his home country in any way possible. Waheed would travel to Kabul helping on the wards by not only providing medical care but also educating the existing doctors even more to widen their knowledge of their practice.

At the time NGOs were using telemedicine which was something that he found intriguing. Upon discovering this, Waheed attempted to create this in Kabul however the expense for equipment was too expensive.

Simplicity was the key to success - what easier way could there be to communicate with the fellow doctors than the use of a smartphone. And so his work commenced, connecting with doctors in areas of conflict. This was the unveiling of Arian Teleheal. With now support provided in many low income/war affected countries not just Afghanistan but also other countries e.g. South Africa, Syria and Uganda this is one of the most successful charities created in the 21st century and it continues to expand.

Form the struggles of growing up during a war, and living with only $100 when first arriving in the UK, to know becoming one of the most finest, well known doctors to this day, a Nobel peace prize winner and with a charity assisting the care of over 1000 patients/saving over 700 hundred lives this man deserves nothing but respect and honour for what he has achieved.

For more info about the charity/to make any donations here’s a link https://arianteleheal.com