In November 2023, Safa Srour was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that could have killed her. On Monday, just one year later, the Dubai native took part in the New York City Marathon and completed her first 42km run. “It was the most emotional feeling,” she said Khaleej Times from New York. “Crossing the marathon finish line in the town I grew up in felt like a dream come true.”

Running to raise awareness of brain health and to show that recovery is the start of a powerful transformation, Safa trained hard to get in shape for the marathon. It was especially difficult because running had never been a part of her life before her health challenges. “I saw a New Balance campaign that said it works for you and it really spoke to me,” she said. “Now I run every morning, but I can’t push myself too hard, so every day is a learning experience. I’m trying to find that balance now.”

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Safa’s is a story of grit, determination and hard work. A content creator and fashion designer, Safa was busy with fashion week in October 2023 when she started experiencing more severe migraines than usual. “Once I was done with my busy schedule, I decided to check it out,” she recalled. “The doctor brushed it off, saying it was just a migraine aggravated by the stress of fashion week. But something told me to get an MRI.”

As soon as her MRI was done and she left the clinic, the doctor called her and asked her to come back. “I knew right away it wasn’t good news,” she said. “But I couldn’t imagine how bad it was.”

The doctor gave him a grim prognosis. “I had a brain aneurysm and the size was 12 millimeters,” she said. The news was particularly shocking to Safa as she had lost her father to a brain aneurysm of almost the same size just five years before. “It’s called the silent killer because there aren’t many symptoms before an aneurysm ruptures. Only 20% of people survive with a disability.”

Hard decisions

After receiving her prognosis, Safa was unable to tell her family. Instead, she contacted her friends in New York. “I finished my bachelor’s degree in community health and applied to medical schools before changing careers,” she said. “I worked in an emergency room, so I had a lot of doctors that I worked with. I sent them the MRI and the doctor said I need to travel as soon as possible. That’s when I finally told my family.”

The hardest decision Safa had to make was deciding on the course of treatment. “We could do either open brain surgery or another procedure that goes through the major arteries,” she said. “So even for the doctor it was a big decision because they had to weigh in, which was better for me as a young adult. It took almost two weeks to decide and the doctor opted for the arterial operation. It was the same operation that my dad died in, so it was incredibly scary for all of us.”

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Nasreen Abdulla

Nasreen Abdulla is a special correspondent covering food, technology and human interest stories. When she’s not challenged by deadlines, you’ll find her replaying submissions on the jiu jitsu mats.