Dr. Sunny Patel Foundation
Donation protected
Dr. Sunny Patel was a man on a mission.
He was driven by ambitions, guided by deep spiritual beliefs and values, gifted with extraordinary talents, and supported by incredible friends and family. He was not, however, slowed down by his cancer. His will to live was fiercely tested, but never broken.
Sunny received his diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma in 2015, and then proceeded to go to Medical school in Augusta, GA. He persevered through a challenging academic workload and an equally rigorous cancer treatment regimen. He excelled in his studies, completed his program in Fall 2020, and received his official Medical doctorate (MD) on November 3rd, 2020. Throughout his 5.5 year journey with cancer, Sunny learned through personal experience that patients with terminal illnesses, especially adolescents and young adults, struggle with:
- Maintaining resilience and the will to live amidst setback after setback
- Nurturing hope when it seems nothing is going your way
- Feeling helpless and without control
- Feeling empowered to set goals and move forward
- Safeguarding one’s self-esteem
- Combatting depression and other negative emotions.
- Finding constructive ways to pay it forward and help others
Fortunately for Sunny, he had countless people in his corner rooting for him, praying for him, and helping him with all of the above. Nevertheless, he was keenly aware that not every cancer patient is so lucky. As recently as December 5th, only days after exiting his latest hospitalization, he expressed to his friends that he wanted to bridge the gap. He had a plan.
Sunny envisioned an initiative which would help address discrepancies that youths fighting cancer might face. He wanted to provide resources to healthcare institutions, caregivers, and to patients themselves. Sunny humbly recognized that he probably wasn’t alone in this desire, so he wanted to align himself with such an organization. But if no such foundation existed, Sunny was determined to then start one anew.
Although Sunny won’t be able to see these dreams realized, his life has inspired other people to help see them to completion. Many people have already asked where they can make donations in Sunny’s honor. Without the force of nature that Sunny was at the helm, surely the efforts to find or create a foundation might take a little longer. But in an effort to jumpstart this goal immediately and provide a platform for his loved ones, Sunny’s family wanted to start this Gofundme campaign.
All funds collected will eventually go towards the addressing broadly defined above. Simply put, this money will go towards other, perhaps less fortunate, Sunny Patels in this world.
Sunny was the fiercest fighter, till the very end. His final days were filled with gratitude for the people in his life, his love for his family and above all, his gurus, Brahmaswarup Pramukh Swami Maharaj and His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj. He has inspired so many and we know that his story will continue to inspire us and others. Thank you for being a part of his journey.
To learn more about life with cancer, please read below:
- https://med.stanford.edu/survivingcancer/cancers-existential-questions/cancer-will-to-live.html
- https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-chat/thread/caring-for-someone-whos-lost-the-will-to-live
- https://ascopost.com/issues/november-10-2018/living-a-full-life-after-a-diagnosis-of-cancer/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-with-cancer-8-things/
He was driven by ambitions, guided by deep spiritual beliefs and values, gifted with extraordinary talents, and supported by incredible friends and family. He was not, however, slowed down by his cancer. His will to live was fiercely tested, but never broken.
Sunny received his diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma in 2015, and then proceeded to go to Medical school in Augusta, GA. He persevered through a challenging academic workload and an equally rigorous cancer treatment regimen. He excelled in his studies, completed his program in Fall 2020, and received his official Medical doctorate (MD) on November 3rd, 2020. Throughout his 5.5 year journey with cancer, Sunny learned through personal experience that patients with terminal illnesses, especially adolescents and young adults, struggle with:
- Maintaining resilience and the will to live amidst setback after setback
- Nurturing hope when it seems nothing is going your way
- Feeling helpless and without control
- Feeling empowered to set goals and move forward
- Safeguarding one’s self-esteem
- Combatting depression and other negative emotions.
- Finding constructive ways to pay it forward and help others
Fortunately for Sunny, he had countless people in his corner rooting for him, praying for him, and helping him with all of the above. Nevertheless, he was keenly aware that not every cancer patient is so lucky. As recently as December 5th, only days after exiting his latest hospitalization, he expressed to his friends that he wanted to bridge the gap. He had a plan.
Sunny envisioned an initiative which would help address discrepancies that youths fighting cancer might face. He wanted to provide resources to healthcare institutions, caregivers, and to patients themselves. Sunny humbly recognized that he probably wasn’t alone in this desire, so he wanted to align himself with such an organization. But if no such foundation existed, Sunny was determined to then start one anew.
Although Sunny won’t be able to see these dreams realized, his life has inspired other people to help see them to completion. Many people have already asked where they can make donations in Sunny’s honor. Without the force of nature that Sunny was at the helm, surely the efforts to find or create a foundation might take a little longer. But in an effort to jumpstart this goal immediately and provide a platform for his loved ones, Sunny’s family wanted to start this Gofundme campaign.
All funds collected will eventually go towards the addressing broadly defined above. Simply put, this money will go towards other, perhaps less fortunate, Sunny Patels in this world.
Sunny was the fiercest fighter, till the very end. His final days were filled with gratitude for the people in his life, his love for his family and above all, his gurus, Brahmaswarup Pramukh Swami Maharaj and His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj. He has inspired so many and we know that his story will continue to inspire us and others. Thank you for being a part of his journey.
To learn more about life with cancer, please read below:
- https://med.stanford.edu/survivingcancer/cancers-existential-questions/cancer-will-to-live.html
- https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-chat/thread/caring-for-someone-whos-lost-the-will-to-live
- https://ascopost.com/issues/november-10-2018/living-a-full-life-after-a-diagnosis-of-cancer/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-with-cancer-8-things/
Organizer and beneficiary
Yesha Patel
Organizer
Alpharetta, GA
Nikul Patel
Beneficiary