«Ola Ghabbour» name is mentioned whenever 57357 hospital for children cancer is mentioned.
Ola Lotfi Zaki »Known as« Ola Ghabbour »Born on January 29, 1960, she married engineer« Raouf Ghabbour »Egyptian businessman, Chairman of Ghabbour Group, Managing Director in Egypt and CEO of Ghabbour Auto, which was founded in 1985.
Ola Ghabbour valued charitable work since the 1990s and has not worked alone since she believed in group work and its effectiveness. She founded Association of Friends of the Oncology Institute (1998), currently Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute in Egypt (AFNCI), not only to provide full treatment for cancer patients but also worked on scientific research and the development of the possible treatment techniques within the Institute, in addition to spreading awareness of the prevention of the disease, and the first health education program «Health in a picture» launched thanks to her.
The association continued to treat cancer patients for free, but with the increase in the number of patients, especially children, and the inability of the Institute to receive this numbers, Ola adopted the idea of establishing a specialized hospital for the treatment of cancer for children, She fully funded feasibility study, planning and design , Knocking all doors in order to reach the dream of “becoming a cancer-free Egypt and keeping the smile of children against the brutality of the disease.” She began fundraising and campaigns to develop scientific research techniques and treatments, despite being the wife of a famous businessman, she faced a severe rejection for financial support, so she decided to that this will be her own project, and her own dream, which came out to light on July 7, embodying the determination of a lady who made the first hospital of its kind in the Middle East. It was a dream she could not imagine becoming that big. However, the57357 hospital children cancer opened in July 2007 and has a global reputation in treatment and research
Ola was the first donor to this hospital, despite being its founder, to give an example of giving to everyone. She donated 10 million pounds to start the construction work. After her death, her husband, businessman Raouf Ghabour, donated 20 million pounds to the hospital.
For 20 years, Ghabbour supported children with cancer as she embraced young warriors as they emerged from operating and chemotherapy rooms, took their hands, encouraged them and strengthened them to battle cancer
Contribution
Mrs. Ola supported many Non-Profit institutes such as Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, Breast Cancer Foundation in Egypt. She was one of its members, Friends of Children Cancer Association, which she established and Abu elRish Hospital for children. She also helped children with special needs. In addition to other charitable work.
After dedicating a big part of her life to cancer patients she was destined to be diagnosed with cancer in the lung only to know in late stages and decided to travel to the United States for treatment, so She stayed in the hospital for four months and then departed from our world on 13 January 2013 and the Cathedral opened its doors to receive the body that gave and still gives and will give until cancer disappears from our world.