HASHEM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Producer, Writer, Director, and Photographer

I'm Omar Hashem, a twenty-Five year old guy and the only child for his parents. I started photography, a hobby of mine, when I was thirteen years old. I choose photography because I figured that it will open up new opportunities for me in life. For example, I can capture the happiness of every person, I can meet new people by volunteering as a photographer and also, I can gain money out of it. I started to develop my skills by volunteering and taking photos at events. Then, people started to appreciate what I was doing so they began to pay me money for photography. Also, I worked for three summers just to be able to upgrade my camera and lenses. So, I made a rule for myself that all the money that I'm going to get, I'll spend it on this hobby only. When I was in high school, I decided that I wanted to major in Filmmaking. Sadly, my parents were against that so I attended KFUPM university to major in Industrial Engineering. Suddenly, after I finished the orientation year I got a rare disease in my lungs called PVOD. The doctors had told me that I should undergo a Double Lungs Transplant within one year or I will pass away. I ended up doing the surgery on August 20, 2016, at Duke Hospital in North Carolina. In 2017 my parents and I decided that it's time to return back to college. But, this time they allowed me to study Film Making, so I applied to ASU, and I got accepted for the fall 2018 semester. After I arrived in AZ, I figured out that I got a PTLD tumor but thank god I started chemotherapy, and now I'm free from it. In 2019 my body decided to refuse the lungs and I went through something called Chronic Rejection, that was in the fall semester of 2019. It was a hard journey and my situation was getting worse as everyday passed. Until the doctors decided that I'm in need of another transplant which I had on the 10th of Jan, 2020. I don't know what will happen next but I'm confident with what The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "How wonderful is the case of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this applies only to a believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah and that is good for him; and if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is better for him".