PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Businessman and media owner, Inshan Ishmael, died Friday, a few months after announcing that he had had cancer.
His son, Zaakir Ishmael, who said his father, the owner of the Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN), had had renal cancer for the last 18 months, had passed away surrounded by his family.
He said funeral arrangements would be posted at a later date for the member of the Muslim faith, who was also a widely respected activist.
In May, Ishmael, who hosted the programme, “Breaking Barriers, announced that he had been diagnosed with urothelial carcinoma, a type of cancer that begins in the urinary system.
Despite surgery, further testing showed the cancer had already begun to spread to his kidney, iliac region and spine, with eight or nine spots across his vertebrae.
In a television interview, Ishmael said he had already spent millions of dollars (One TT dollar=US$0.16cents) on treatment and called on the government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar to prioritise cancer treatment, particularly for those who cannot afford it, adding that it was cheaper for him to undergo treatment in the United States than here.
“You don’t give yourself life. You don’t give yourself death. For me to have gotten this at this late stage, children are being born with cancer right now. I am grateful God gave me 57 years to live. My faith has not waned; it has gotten stronger. I thank God for testing me because in our faith it tells us that this is a way of relieving sins, so therefore, I accept this,” he said in the television interview.
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