Princess Dina Mired, Podcast Host of Global Health Dialogues with Princess Dina, shared on LinkedIn:
“There are some people whose goodness is not something they speak about-it is simply how they live. My dear friend Dr. Navid Madani was one of those rare human beings.
Navid was profoundly selfless. She was one of those increasingly rare people willing to step outside the comfort of her own life to help others. She did not simply care from a distance. She showed up.
And Navid quite literally showed up.
Even as chemotherapy was weakening her, she would still come to teach, to advocate, to share her knowledge and to lend her voice to those who needed it. I remember looking at her sometimes and wondering where she found the strength. But that was Navid: there was always another person to help, another injustice to confront, another opportunity to do some good.
Navid loved and was immensely proud of both her Iranian and American heritage. She carried both within her, but her humanity was never confined by nationality, religion or geography. that solidarity means more than expressing sympathy. It means being prepared to act.
I had the privilege of welcoming Navid onto my Global Health Dialogues podcast, and I had the joy of joining her for TeaTime with SHE. Looking back at those conversations now is both precious and painful. Behind the distinguished scientist, educator and global-health advocate was the Navid I knew: warm, passionate, generous, courageous and possessed of a fierce sense of justice.
But when I think of Navid today, it is not her titles or accomplishments that come first to mind.
I see her.
I see that wonderful short blond hair, which she had had to cut during her treatment and which I absolutely loved on her. And I see that smile. She somehow always looked smiley and ready-as though she were about to go off and conquer another injustice or find yet another way of doing some good in the world.
That image of her will stay with me.
Navid also wrote beautifully. Many of us who loved and admired her kept encouraging her to write a book. She wanted to. She had so much to say, so many stories to tell, and such a wonderful way with words.
Alas, that book will now never be written.
And yet, perhaps in another way, Navid’s story has already written itself.
It is written in the people she helped, in the women she empowered, in the students she taught, in the injustices she refused to ignore and in the causes she chose to stand beside when it would have been far easier to remain silent.
It is written in the fact that, even when her own body was being weakened by treatment, she continued to give of herself to others.
It is written in Gaza, where cancer patients found in her someone thousands of miles away who cared enough not only to speak, but to act.
And it is written in the hearts of all of us who had the privilege of knowing and loving her.
The world has lost a brilliant scientist, teacher and advocate. Palestine has lost a true friend. And I have lost a very dear one.
I will miss that smile. I will miss that wonderful blond hair. I will miss her energy, her courage, her writing, and her enormous heart.
But most of all, I will miss Navid.
She may not have had the time to write the book she wanted to write. But, my dear Navid, your story is already written-in all of us.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. You did so much good while you were here.”
You can also read:
Global Health Dialogues with Princess Dina Mired: Dr. Navid Madani
