17-Year-Old Who Beat Life-Threatening Disease Now Hopes to Become Doctor

By Anna Lazarus Caplan – People

It was just after his eighth birthday when Hanif Mouehla found himself fighting for his life after being diagnosed with sickle cell disease. Inspired by the care he received, the 17-year-old is now eyeing the pre-med track at Harvard University so that he can pay it forward one day.

“I would say that from a young age I was strictly focused on medicine and becoming a doctor,” the recent high school graduate, who is headed to the prestigious university in the fall, tells PEOPLE.

When he was eight years old, Hanif was admitted to the intensive care unit at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester County, New York. At the time, his condition was worsening and doctors placed him in a coma after both of his lungs collapsed as of the disease.

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