Television presenter Halla Mohieddeen says it breaks her heart that her dad Jawdat didn’t live long enough to see her land her top news job in Scotland.
Jawdat, 65, died from cancer in 2013, four years before Halla landed the role of anchor for STV News Tonight.
She was delighted to join the flagship news programme on Scotland’s newest channel STV2
last year and feels her dad would have been proud.
Halla, 38, grew up in Blainslie, Roxburghshire, with her Lebanese dad and Scots mum Heather. Her father made Scotland his home after meeting her mum.
“He would have loved the fact that I’m now on television in Scotland,” Halla said.
“It would have made him very proud, just as I was proud of him, proud of his resilience and
everything he achieved in his life.”
Every hour, almost four people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland and Halla knows exactly how difficult it can be supporting a loved one through the disease.
That’s why she’s set to pull on her running shoes and take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life at Glasgow Green on May 20 as a tribute to her dad and in memory of her close friend Ian Sherman, who was just 36 when he died from cancer.
Halla said: “Cancer is brutal. It’s taken away some of the most special people in my life. It’s an enormous shame when you see so much talent and potential cut short.
“Family was always at the centre of everything for my dad and it was difficult to watch him suffer. I’m so glad though that I was able to be there with dad when he died. It was a relief that he wasn’t in pain anymore.
“Dad and I were very similar in personality. He wanted me to do well at school and to grow up recognising the value of hard work.
"He was fascinated by current affairs, read the papers and watched the news programmes every day. That keen awareness of the world rubbed off on me.
“Dad grew up in Lebanon, a country that was then consumed by civil war, where a sniper on the street could take your life away in just a second.
"He didn’t get a chance to finish his own education but was determined that his own children would make a success of their lives.”
Halla has worked all over the world as a journalist. She was based in Asia when the tsunami struck in 2011 and lived in China when the Sichuan earthquake hit in 2008.
Halla vividly recalls the moment she realised how seriously unwell her dad was.
She returned to Scotland in 2012 to visit her parents and touched down at Edinburgh airport to the sight of her dad waiting, so frail that he was in a wheelchair.
Jawdat, who had struggled to fight back to health after a heart attack and stroke, had a new battle on his hands – adrenal gland cancer.
Halla’s mum had become his full-time carer. Halla said: “I was completely shocked and unprepared for the way he looked. Dad looked about 20 years older than I had remembered him.
“I just hadn’t realised until then how unwell he was. I knew then that the right place for me
to be was in Scotland to support Mum and Dad.
“Caring for Dad had become a full-time job and I was determined to help Mum do that. At first, I had this Florence Nightingale image in my head of how I wanted to fix everything for my dad. But I rapidly discovered that caring for a loved one is really hard.
"It can be frustrating, hard work and it takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically.
“I have so much respect for the army of carers across Scotland who do this job day in day out.
“Dad was realistic. He knew he was dying and accepted this long before anyone else in the family. The rest of us kept thinking, ‘Dad has survived so much in the past, he’ll pull through this’.
“But Dad knew his mind right until the end. He was absolutely determined to die at home.
“We knew Dad didn’t have long. My sister was working in China at the time and had a battle to get a flight back. She eventually arrived home in Scotland around midnight and Dad died just after 5pm that afternoon.
"It was like he held on long enough for all the family to be together then could finally let go.”
Jawdat died at home on March 23, 2013, with Heather and children Halla, Vicky, 36, and William, 31, at his bedside.
Losing him brought back painful memories for Halla of how distraught she’d felt in 2009 when close friend Ian, who was Time Out music editor in Beijing, died from mouth cancer.
Halla had struck up a strong friendship with Ian while working as a journalist in the city. She said: “I felt privileged to count myself as one of Ian’s friends.
“He was so sharp, so witty but so caring as well. He was an authority in music and such a talented writer. Ian’s death was a massive shock as he became unwell so quickly.
“I struggled with standing by and seeing that massive potential taken away by cancer.
“My dad died after a long, sustained period of illness but Ian was so incredibly young when he died. He had everything to offer the world and there were many more things he wanted to do. He was so talented and I miss him terribly.
“Who knows where he’d be now if his life hadn’t been cut short?
“Taking part in Race for Life is a simple and easy way to show support, to help fund vital research to develop new treatments to give people more tomorrows.”
Every day, 87 people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland.
Cancer Research UK Race for Life organisers are appealing for women and girls to stride out to beat cancer sooner with Scotland’s first Race for Life 5K of the year kicking off in Stirling and South Queensferry on May 13.
This will be closely followed by 5K, 10K and Pretty Muddy 5K events across the country, everywhere from Fife to Falkirk, Dundee to Irvine.
In partnership with Tesco, the women-only events raise millions of pounds every year to fund research.
Lisa Adams, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman in Scotland, said: “We are very grateful to Halla for her support.
By signing up to Race for Life, women across Scotland can make a real difference in the fight against cancer.
“Money raised will help Cancer Research UK scientists and doctors find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease, helping save more lives.
"Money raised through Race for Life is helping to drive research to help beat over 200 different types of cancer – that’s why every step, every person and every penny raised counts.”
One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their lives – but more people are surviving the disease now than ever before.
Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 70s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.
Their lifesaving work relies on the public’s support. Thanks to the generosity of their supporters, the charity were able to spend more than £34million last year in Scotland on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research – helping more men, women and children survive.
●To enter Race for Life, visit raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.
