Inspiring people to fight cancer - The Yuvraj Singh way

He won his fight against cancer, and kick-started a rather successful second innings, but there is one more enemy he wishes to eradicate.

'We are not looking to cure cancer, we're telling you how to fight it', says the welcome page of YouWeCan. YouWeCan is an earnest initiative of the Yuvraj Singh Foundation that aims at spreading awareness, facilitating early detection and fighting the stigma attached with the 'C' word.

The capacity to fight something as deadly as cancer comes from within the man and Yuvraj was never the one to give up. "If YouWeCan (Yuvi) can, YOU can," says Yuvraj in a personal message to his followers.

A changed man after his successful treatment, as many from his field would observe, Yuvraj is leaving no stone unturned in his endeavour to create an environment where cancer is not seen as the end of the world. "I've always believed no matter how hard the battle is, whether it is on the field or off it, it can be overcome."

Determined to not let others surrender to this fatal disease, Yuvraj is aptly using his popularity to reach out to the masses and to those who are either oblivious to some simple preventive measures or unable to afford a diagnosis.

"The first thing is that we want is to open detection centres for cancer. It's very important to get diagnosed early. If you get detected early, half the battle is won.There are a lot of people who can't afford to come and get tested. We want to help them."

We need you to join us in any which way you choose, right now there are two opportunities:(a) YouWeCan seeks volunteers to partner and take the initiative to new heights. Both online and offline volunteering.(b) Internship Programs - For students who wish to commit their energies towards making a difference in the lives of others.
We need you to join us in any which way you choose, right now there are two opportunities:(a) YouWeCan seeks volunteers to partner and take the initiative to new heights. Both online and offline volunteering.(b) Internship Programs - For students who wish to commit their energies towards making a difference in the lives of others.

To secure an unassailable lead over cancer, it becomes very necessary to overcome the scars left behind by the trauma of being a survivor. And one of the main aspirations of the foundation is to help people survive the mental battle. In an attempt to bring smile on the faces of some of the youngest survivors, YouWeCan recently launched a campaign to 'score a century against cancer'. After the launch, the allrounder tweeted:

Yuvraj personally has been actively involved in the activities of YouWeCan. Yuvraj Singh Foundation tied up with his then-IPL team, Delhi Daredevils, and Max Hospitals to set up free of cost cancer detection clinics on May 1, 2015 in the National Capital Region.

When he said "We are going to work 24x7 for this charity," he meant every word of it. He launched the foundation in a hope to touch as many lives as humanely possible and has invested quite a bit of his off-duty hours to help this initiative gather as much steam as it can.

"I couldn't have done it alone, it was very important that a lot of people stood by me," says Yuvi, slyly touching upon the psychological stigma attached with the dreaded disease.

There are numerous challenges to being a larger than life image, but there are an equal number of upsides, too. Yuvraj Singh used his image, fame and charm to ensure people are more aware about cancer and what they can do to successfully beat the malady. His career may not be over, but as a social activist, Yuvraj proved that he still has loads more to offer to the people of the world. If it is smiles and joy that he has to provide to people, Yuvraj knows multiple ways to do the same.

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Fighter!Champion!

Two words that were quite generously used to describe Yuvraj Singh, the stylish Punjab-born left-hander, long before anyone had a hint of the battle he was actually fighting.

2011 saw Yuvraj Singh script two contrasting tales - two very different stories simultaneously unfolded. He hooked, pulled, cut, drove and played out of his skin to torment the opposition during the 2011 World Cup. If his bat didn't do the talking, he was a match-winner with the ball. He was the vital cog in India's engine. Its lifeblood, almost. There seemed to be no stopping the left-hander and he was Man of the Series as India ended their World Cup drought after 28 long years. But, while his on-field heroics were widely publicized every morning, not too many knew about the struggle he was going through the previous night just to be able to take field.

Being a sports professional, your career depends on how physically fit you are. Yuvraj realised quite early that his body wasn't at one hundred percent. What followed next was an ordeal but he, as many from the field of medicine will tell you, was fortunate to have his disease caught at a nascent stage, and then have the best of medical staff and facilities at his disposal.

And Yuvraj understands not many are as lucky.