S. Enam Bukhari

Infobox Person


name=S. Enam Bukhari
birth_date= birth date|1952|04|15|mf=y
yearsactive = 1979-present
nickname= "Mr. B"
website = http://www.chasinggood.com/

S. Enam Bukhari ('April 15th, 1952 – present') is a Canadian lawyer/author who is confined to a wheelchair and constant life support. He has successfully practiced law in this manner for the past 23 years and is one of the longest known cases of a person living while hooked to a medical ventilator.

Early Life

Bukhari was born in Libya (April 15th, 1952), but as the son of Syed Habib Ahmed, a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, he lived in various locations in Africa and the Middle East during his upbringing. He had the privilege of meeting and being mentored by General Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. A Canadian movie director has described Mr. B’s early life as a true life “Jackie Chan” type story, which included incidents of almost being shot, meeting Colonel Gaddafi of Libya, being detained by the Somalian army, owning a pet lion, and being chased by the secret intelligence police in Syria.

S. Enam Bukhari (also known as Mr. B) has 27 years of legal experience and has a Bachelors degree from the University of Waterloo, a Law degree from the University of Western Ontario, and a Masters Of Law degree in Negotiation/Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

Viral Pneumonia & The Intensive Care Unit

At age 34, as a young and ambitious Canadian lawyer, viral pneumonia stopped his heart and left him unable to breathe on his own. He was administered the final rites by the catholic hospital priest, but would go on to spend the next 12 months in the Intensive Care Unit, much to the wonderment of the doctors. Near the end of his hospital stay, Mr. Bukhari had largely adjusted to his new way of life and taught himself how to speak, and even began practicing law again and seeing clients (and largely using the nurses for secretarial duties). For the past 23 years, S. Enam Bukhari, has been dependant upon a life support respirator and confined to a wheelchair. Mr. B’s life changed from one of pride and self-sufficiency to one of total dependence. He’d been told by doctors he would never contribute to society again.

Life on a Respirator

The average lifespan of a person on a respirator is reported to be 9 years, yet Bukhari has spent the past 23 years practicing law while concatenated to his medical ventilator, which has required him to teach himself how to converse despite his tracheotomy. In fact, he is still described as a workaholic and consistently works 14-20 hour days and once negotiated a business transaction for 29 straight hours.

S. Enam Bukhari also serves on the Board of Directors of many Corporations, was the co-founder of OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group), is the President of Toys on Wings (a non-profit organization) as well as the founder of Food4Wills (a program which provides Last Will and Testament/Power of Attorney documents at cost with a food bank donation as well as Free Legal Advice). When describing his Food4Wills venture, he says, “I chose food banks as a cause to pursue as I knew it takes an effort at the community level to make a difference, and it was my hope that by helping awaken Canadians to the need to ensure that ‘no Canadian should go hungry’ it would make them think about those in need living on their own doorsteps.” Food4Wills garnered nearly 15 000 cans of food this past year (2007) but Mr. Bukhari would like to expand the program even more by getting more lawyers on board.

Despite his “unstable” and difficult condition, he has been able to accomplish much with his life:

- past Director of the Lincoln County Humane Society - past Director of the Lincoln Multicultural Council. - Member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Accessibility City of St Catharines - past Board member of the Niagara Regional Placement Coordination Service. - past member of the NCIL (a disabled organization) - past President of the Sunshine Foundation - Awarded Civic Award of Merit as Citizen of the Year - Been given special recognition as Entrepreneur of the Year finalist - President of the Tribenz Capital Group Inc.

He has been recognized for his accomplishments at all levels of Canadian government including the City of St Catharines, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Former Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin had this to say about Enam, '“I am a firm believer that Canadians from all walks of life must have equal opportunities. You have been a tireless advocate on this front and I hope you will keep in touch with your ideas on how to better achieve equal opportunity within Canada and internationally.”'

He is currently a family man; living with his wife, Nayyer, two sons, Amir and Adam, as well as a daughter, Leena, but is also recently an author who has released his publication entitled . The book focuses on examining and relaying the ancient message found in different religions throughout the history of human kind, also commonly known as the ‘Golden Rule’. It outlines 5 Principles of Chasing Good which he credits were the five distinct areas of choice on which he bases his survival and productivity today. The books net proceeds go to Registered Charities approved by the Canadian Government.

Personal

Among his lobbies he enjoys surfing the internet and reading newspapers. It is also notable that both his mother, Amtul Hafeez Ahmed, and father, have written books of their own, entitled "A South Asian Woman in the West" and "From South Asian to North America" respectively.

References

[http://www.food4wills.com] Food4Wills [http://www.chasinggood.com] Chasing Good / Bukhari Law Office Website [http://www.ToysonWings.com] Toys On Wings [http://www.wheelchairlawyer.com] http://www.wheelchairlawyer.com