A Muslim doctor who died of COVID-19 has been mourned by many loved ones, remembering him for his friendly manners and kind gestures.
“We all feel sad. It’s a tragic loss,” close friend and colleague Fauzi Ramadan told CBC News at a prayer service Monday night.
“It’s as though I lost a son, it’s not easy.”
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Dr. Youssef Al-Begamy, 48, was Saskatchewan family and emergency room physician. He died of COVID-19 complications early Sunday morning.
He was among the first Saskatchewan intensive care patients transferred to Ontario for treatment amid the province’s fourth-wave bed crunch.
Ramadan said that Dr. Al-Begamy will always be remembered for making everyone he met feel like his best friend.
“That’s the impression that he leaves on anybody … that’s his character,” he said.
Youssef Al-Begamy (right) is being remembered for his friendly personality and love of fitness. (Fauzi Ramadan)
Full of Life
Brad Thorpe, who worked with Al-Begamy years ago in the Moose Jaw emergency department, also mourned the deceased doctor as someone who was “full of life” and always friendly.
“When you were being treated as a patient or whether you were standing next to him as a friend, you always felt like you were the most important person in the room,” he explained.
“He was a very special person … a man who made a difference.”
Al-Begamy was not immunized against COVID-19, a tragedy Thrope hopes everyone can avoid.
“If there’s anything we could learn from this, it’s to take it seriously,” he advised. “My take home message is: vaccinate, wear your mask, physically distance — and listen to people when they ask you to do these things.”
Tragic Loss
Canadian Muslims have mourned many figures recently.
Earlier this year, Muslims in Scarborough mourned the death of Saleh Hafejee, a community leader and mentor to thousands of youth.
In March 2021, the caretaker of a Toronto mosque who spent the last four decades of his life serving the mosque and the Muslim community passed away after contacting covid-19.