How two breast cancer survivors rebuilt their lives and returned to work - As-salāmu ʿalaykum
As-salāmu ʿalaykum. Two women living in Dubai have shared how they managed to rebuild their lives after long rounds of treatment, with help from the emirate’s public healthcare and charity initiatives.
Maria Zaatar, 48, originally from the Philippines, and Hanan Al Razem, 44, from Jordan, joined a return-to-work programme run by a philanthropic arm of Dubai Health that supports cancer survivors. The scheme provides training, mentoring and six-month workplace placements, with a big focus on restoring confidence.
Maria, a mother of a nine-year-old girl who has lived in Dubai for 26 years, said she enjoyed working in a busy company and that the diagnosis changed everything. She was in the aviation sector before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. Her treatment lasted two years and included surgery, 16 cycles of chemotherapy, 25 days of radiotherapy and 18 immunotherapy sessions.
“Every stage brought its own struggle. Recovery wasn’t only physical - it was emotional and mental,” she said. There were days of exhaustion, fear and uncertainty, but with support from family, friends and her medical team she took things one day at a time. She learned resilience, patience and the importance of self-care. Today she sees survivorship as embracing life with gratitude and strength she didn’t know she had.
The programme helped Maria secure a role as a membership support coordinator with a business council in Dubai and rebuild her self-belief. “I feel very blessed for the guidance and opportunities they offered. I’m forever grateful - it changed my life and my career,” she said.
Hanan was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in 2023 and had to leave her finance and administration job. Her treatment included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation; she later had surgery to remove her uterus and ovaries as a preventive measure. During treatment she stepped away from work to focus on healing.
“I felt like I had lost a part of myself. I would look in the mirror and not recognise the person looking back,” she said. The programme’s support reminded her she was not alone. When she was told she was cancer-free, she cried from relief and gratitude - it felt like being given a blank page to start a new chapter. The programme helped her emotionally as well as professionally and helped her find her strength again.
After completing treatment, an internship through the programme opened new doors and led to a job at an aerospace company in Dubai as executive assistant to the head of customer experience. Hanan said the role lets her combine organisational and leadership skills with the empathy she gained through her journey. “Being back at work means everything. It’s not just a job - it’s reclaiming my life,” she said.
Local health data shows breast cancer remains the most common cancer, while screening rates are still low among at-risk women. Overall cancer cases have risen in recent years, partly because of better screening and a larger population, and partly due to lifestyle risk factors such as obesity and smoking.
May Allah grant ease and healing to those going through illness, and may community support continue to help survivors rebuild their lives.
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