Zain Ul Haq was a 22-year-old, 4th year medical student at King Edward Medical University, Lahore. He was an extraordinary son, brother, friend and a gem of a person according to everyone who knew him. He was not only a brilliant student throughout his life, but an overall extremely talented person. He used to play around 11 musical instruments, participated in all kinds of extracurricular activit
ies and charity work, always donated blood to people in need and he worked hard to improve the healthcare system of Pakistan. Anybody who had the pleasure of knowing Zain, knows how well he treated everyone and how much he has helped people around him. Being one of the most energetic and happy people his university ever had, he used to counsel his juniors and classmates at KEMU, to keep going in life and never be afraid to ask for help, which is why today there is a “Zain Haq Counselling Program” at KEMU, to keep his memory alive and spread awareness for the importance of mental health. As a future doctor, Zain was always empathetic and compassionate towards all the needy people he came across, regardless of who they were or where they were from. He had a vision at such a young age – a vision to help people of our country and make sure everyone gets access to good healthcare as he believed it is every citizen’s right to be healthy. Unfortunately, we all lost him on July 16th, 2016 and his loss has left a void in our hearts that can never be filled. He is dearly missed every single day by his family, friends and all the people he had ever helped in any way at all. A month after this tragic incident, his family members decided to keep alive his dream of helping the poor and needy people of our country by building Zain Ul Haq Foundation, Lahore. Every week, a handful of patients show up and receive free medical checkups and medication, along with free follow up appointments. Zain’s parents, Dr. Irfan Ul Haq and Dr. Lubna Haq, are the founders of this free pain clinic and work very passionately to keep their son’s vision and memories alive. His younger sister, Dr. Rejja Irfan, and his older sister, Shaza Irfan, also contribute wholeheartedly to make this project a success. Today when we see a patient happy after their pain has been relieved, we know that Zain is happy and will always be with us, being the force that drives us to do more good things.
