There’s a reason it’s called growing pains. Being a teenager is tough. Now imagine learning you’ve got bone cancer in your legs, and you’re only 15? It sounds like a nightmare, but for Dareen Barbar, this was her life and she had to do deal with it. Undergoing treatment can do all kinds of things to your body, and we all know how self-conscious we can be about our looks when we’re teens. It seems like we pay more attention to what others think of us than what we think of ourselves. But Dareen didn’t really have that luxury at all. She was too busy fighting for her life.She looks happy in that photo. She’s happily married and has two children. But she didn’t always feel great. Other than her amputation, she suffered an accident that changed her life, and made her embrace life and an athletic lifestyle once again.
In 2013, she was doing the dishes in the kitchen, when she lost her footing, fell and broke her left hip, which she used to keep her prosthetic leg in check. At that moment, she realized, she needed a huge change to find happiness, all she needed was to believe in herself. She added on her Instagram account, “My hip fracture left me devastated and broken, but I decided to rehabilitate myself, go to the gym and work hard which resulted in losing 25kg in one year!! I realized that I must take a radical decision to change my life and be happy, and invest in myself and in what I have. I am the proof that if you believe in yourself, make a plan and work hard; you will definitely achieve your goals.”
It’s hard to believe that this beautiful woman once doubted herself and had opted for not working out anymore. She’s so confident today! It wasn’t easy to adopt a healthy athletic lifestyle but in the end it all worked out for the best.
She claims that she had allowed her body to become so weak that she couldn’t even stand to wash dishes. So something had to change, because she wanted to become strong again, and she worked hard to achieve her goal.
After learning that she had osteogenic sarcoma, Dareen had to undergo chemotherapy, but she had plenty of energy inside of her and was hopeful that she could beat the Big C before it ended her hopes and her future.
Fortunately, the doctors had great news for her. The cancer was gone, but so was her energy, and her left leg. As an athlete, losing a leg was about the worst thing she could have ever experienced in her young life.
Being an athlete became essential for her in order to keep her stamina and strength in check. It also helped her on an emotional level too, which is why she decided to become a certified gym instructor.
Not only does she have her husband, Ramzi Gholmieh, rooting for her, but she also has two adorable children, nine-year-old Emilio, and five-year-old Katie who are the light of her life. It’s safe to say they make her world shine bright, every single day.
Aside from starting a family with her husband, she also learned how to drive, completed her studies, and went on to live a fulfilling life, which also included running and finishing marathons. Is there anything she can’t do?
Thankfully, advances in prosthetics have allowed her the opportunity for Dareen, who was an aspiring basketball player in her youth. Today, the nutritionist/fitness instructor is competing in charity events and isn’t letting anything stop her.
After rehabilitating herself, she ended up losing 55 pounds in one whole year, proving that hard work really does pay off. You can also tell in her smile that she now has a far more positive outlook on life since embracing fitness.
Of course, she had to take things slow at first, so she would take easy steps on the treadmill. Eventually, she moved on to circuit training, which not only transformed her body but restored her inner strength almost immediately.
Clearly, she discovered how true the statement that exercise does the body and mind good was. She was hooked on fitness, which motivated her more and more every day to bring the beautiful woman from within to the surface.
