Dr. Faisal Rehman organized the Showdown in the Downtown, a fundraising event in London featuring boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing.wabeno/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The donor: Dr. Faisal Rehman
The gift: Raising $1.4-million and climbing
The cause: Medical research and poverty reduction
When Dr. Faisal Rehman was starting his medical career in the late 1990s, he applied for life insurance but was turned down. He was told he had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes.
"That scared me," Dr. Rehman recalled from his office at the Schulich School of Medicine at Western University in London, Ont. "I thought, 'My god, I've let myself go to this point that I've become ill.'"
Dr. Rehman took up running and boxing to get into shape. Around the same time, he'd been asked to raise money for a new kidney research unit at the university and he decided to put his love of boxing to use. He organized the Showdown in the Downtown, a fundraising event in London featuring boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing. There have been five so far and two music concerts, raising $1.4-million in total. The eighth event will be another concert in September. The proceeds have been split between the kidney centre and various anti-poverty groups.
"That health scare turned out to be not only good for me, because I improved my lifestyle, but also helped me get involved with charitable work," said Dr. Rehman, 45, who has competed at some of the fights. "It has been so rewarding."
Paul Waldie