On the 8th March 2024 our lives changed forever when our beloved Mazin was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Mazin passed away on the 21st July 2024, aged 31 years old.

Who was Dr Mazin Mirza?

Humanitarian. Adventurer. Healer.

Mazin’s defining characteristics were his adventurous spirit, his integrity and his boundless love and capacity for helping others.

Throughout his life he sought to demonstrate these qualities. From working as a doctor in refugee camps in Athens, hiking to the base camp of Mount Everest, performing community work with the Maasai tribe or delivering medical assistance to indigenous within the Amazon rainforest.

Mazin took life as an adventure in which he always sought new and greater heights. The quality of his character was such that it also elevated those who had the privilege of being close to him. Everyone was better for having Mazin in their lives and he will live on through the good deeds of those he inspired.

The Diagnosis

Mazin noticed in February he was getting nocturnal back pain. As a doctor, he was aware this was a red flag and he received an MRI which showed he needed urgent medical attention.

Mazin was initially treated in Brighton, where he was a patient in the hospital he worked at as a doctor. He was diagnosed with a metastatic neuroendocrine cancer which sadly was a terminal diagnosis.

Following a successful cycle of radiotherapy to alleviate his back pain, he was treated with chemotherapy as an out-patient in Brighton and Leicester as he later moved back to the family home. Sadly, Mazin did not respond to the chemotherapy.

In June he was admitted to LOROS hospice in order to achieve some respite and a better quality of life. His 3 weeks at LOROS were comfortable, dignified and peaceful.

Time at LOROS

The nurses, doctors and all the staff went above and beyond to control his symptoms to improve his quality of life. This allowed him to spend purposeful time with the people he loved, and even manage to have an engagement ceremony with the help of the nurses.

Despite the suffering Mazin felt, he spoke a lot about how privileged he was to receive such compassionate care given by the most considerate of people. He was well aware that the level of care he was given was a gift that not all receive and that LOROS provided this in abundance.

LOROS is a charity whose aim is to enhance the quality of life of adult patients with cancer, progressive neurological conditions and end-stage organ failure for whom curative treatment is no longer possible. Patients are treated at the Hospice and in the community based upon clinical need, regardless of background and the ability to pay. Please help us to continue the incredible work LOROS does.

Legacy

Mazin loved writing and throughout his life he spent time writing short stories and poems. One poem is planned to be placed on a plaque in the University of Leicester Botanic Garden. It reads:

When the wilds of despair surround you,

Let hope and love be your armour.

Have faith that they will endure,

And you will rise to greet the warm breath of dawn once more.

Mazin did not fear death and lived life to the fullest. His story was far too short, but the chapters were full of adventure, laughter and good times. May he live on through the many lives he has touched.