Yaseen Akhtar died on August 10, 2021, at age forty-eight, after many years of struggling with traumatic brain injury and mental health.
Yaseen will be missed by his loving parents, Denise Gour-Akhtar and Shahid Akhtar, who fought hard for years to get Yaseen the support he needed and to take care of him with love and compassion. He is survived by his big sister, Seema Akhtar, and her husband, Charles Haines. Yaseen also leaves behind two nieces, Safia and Ameena, and a nephew, Luca, who will miss their Uncle Yazzy very much.
Yaseen was fun-loving, kind and generous. He was compassionate, caring and incredibly smart. As a young child, Yaseen was curious about everything and could often be found investigating a praying mantis or a caterpillar--even in the middle of a soccer game! As an adult, his natural curiosity evolved into a passion for watching documentaries and YouTube. Yaseen could rhyme off sports results just as easily as he could engage on the details of current affairs, and he often regaled us with his eclectic knowledge. He was always ready to entertain his nieces and nephew--playing many marathon games of Monopoly, Checkers, Risk and even Pinkalicious Uno (which he did not enjoy!) with them. Even though Yaseen lived with more pain than anyone should have to endure in the past decade or so, he was always ready with a smile, a funny story or an anecdote.
Yaseen, wherever you are, we hope you are feeling free and light. We hope that all of your pain and suffering are gone. Maybe you're sitting in a boat on a beautiful lake with your rod in the water and the sun on your face. We love you.
Family and friends are invited to a graveside service in section 51S of the Beechwood Cemetery, 280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa, on Friday, August 20 at 3 p.m.
Dress: smart casual
Due to COVID restrictions, the short service will take place outside. Please bring your own chairs, umbrellas and drinking water, as needed. Masks and physical distancing will be required.
Instead of flowers, we'd be grateful for donations in Yaseen's name to Brain Injury Canada (https://www.braininjurycanada.ca/en/donate) or to the Canadian Mental Health Association (https://cmha.ca)
Digital Guestbook
I wish I had known you better
John Halloran
Seema, Charles, Ameena, Luca and Safia,
I am very sorry to hear about the passing of Yaseen. I gathered during the years that our families overlapped that he had his challenging times and that you were there for him. The beautiful photo montage in the obituary paints a picture of a full and loving existence and a family that enjoys who they have in each other. My sincere condolences.
The Human Being, like a bird of the sea, emerged from the ocean of the Soul. Earth is not a final place of rest, for a bird born from the Eternal sea.
No, we are pearls of that Ocean; all of us will live in it; and if it weren't so, why would waves upon wave arrive? This is the time of union. the time of Eternal Beauty.
It is the time of Mercy and Kindness; it is the Ocean of the Pure.
The wave of the bestowed came. The roar of the Sea was here. And now the morning of Eternal Love, Peace and Mercy has dawned.
Shams Tabriz
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un "Verily we belong to Allah and verily to Him do we return."