Toronto University hosts special convocation to give Indian-origin cancer patient PhD

Cancer can crash many hopes and dreams if it comes at an unexpected time especially when ambitious people haven’t achieved all they want to. A Canadian University made the kindest gesture for a cancer-afflicted Indian-origin woman wasn’t sure she would survive to be at the annual convocation, they decided to have a special one just for her.

According to a media report, Indian-origin PhD student Precilla Veigas D’souza got the biggest surprise recently when the University of Toronto held a special convocation to award her her PhD in Medical Science. The 45-year-old mother who was diagnosed with a rare abdominal cancer in 2015 was told by her doctors that she wouldn’t survive long unless she underwent chemotherapy. The ambitious student who had already halfway through her dissertation fought the disease to complete it and get the degree.

Unfortunately, she did not know if she would be able to live another month till the annual convocation held by the college and so the University did the heart-warming act of awarding it to her before the grand celebration. The mother is survived by her husband and 15-year-old daughter Jadyn who she hopes to inspire along with many others to pursue their dreams.

Precilla had always wanted to do her PhD but circumstances had prevented her from doing so before she moved to Canada with her family in 2003 but by 2005 her dream materialised and she started pursuing her dream to finally be able to accomplish it successfully to be awarded on May 9th this year.