When Jamal Daahir heads to the gym, goes for a swim, or picks up a paintbrush today, it’s more than just a hobby — it’s a powerful statement of resilience.
After surviving a devastating, traumatic brain injury in 2023, Daahir has defied the odds with relentless determination and unwavering support from the one person who never left his side: his mother, Judy Haughton.
The pair are being honoured for their resilience with a 2025 Glenrose Courage Award.
Jamal Daahir and Judith Haughton will receive a Glenrose Courage Award in November.
Courtesy: Judith Haughton
The Courage Awards are the Glenrose Hospital Foundation’s annual celebration of patients and caregivers at the hospital. Winners are nominated by Glenrose staff for their determination, positivity and ability to persevere.
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For Jamal, the award is a symbol of how far he’s come.
“When I think about the Courage Award, I think about my mom, my friends, my family. I think about what I went through and how my mother pushed me through a lot of things,” Dahir shared.
“It helped me continue and keep driving.”
In 2023, Daahir moved from B.C. to Alberta. He was at a party late one night but never made it home. Police found him suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Doctors told his mom he wouldn’t survive.
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“I never believed that one day that he wasn’t going to make it,” Judith Haughton, Jamal’s mother, told Global News.
“He’s here now because he was surrounded by love.”
After extensive surgeries and recovery at an Edmonton hospital, Judith said she had to advocate for her son to be accepted into a program at the Glenrose, because originally there was concern he wouldn’t benefit from the care they provide.
With the help of the staff at the Glenrose, Daahir has gone from using a wheelchair, to a walker, to now walking independently and playing his favourite sports, and swimming.
Jamal Daahir has found a love of swimming while undergoing therapy at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
Courtesy: Judith Haughton
“After he did his first lane, the absolute smile on his face returning back to something he completely loved was just amazing,” recreation therapist Kennedy Bowman said.
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“He said, ‘Kennedy, I want to perfect my front stroke, I want do my backstroke, let’s practice again!’ And he practiced again and again.”
Daahir still struggles with his speech.
“I have aphasia,” he explains when speaking to people. “Sometimes I have trouble getting the words out.”
That self-advocacy, according to speech-language pathologist Alicia Duncan, is one of the most courageous steps he’s taken.
“If we think about courage being strength in the face of pain or grief or something difficult, Jamel exemplifies that,” Duncan said.
“Jamal is a fighter.”
“He just always had this determination to just get better,” Bowman told Global News. “He wouldn’t have been able to do it without his mom, Judy. She’s the rock in his life.”
That’s why the pair will share the award. Haughton has been travelling between B.C. and Alberta over the past two years to take care of her son.
“There was never a ‘not’ to help him,” she said.
“He’s my greatest love. I couldn’t leave a part of my heart here and not be here to help.”
Haughton has worked in health-care in B.C. for more than two decades and credits her deep knowledge of the system for allowing her to navigate medical bureaucracy, challenge dismissive opinions, and ensure her son got every opportunity to recover.
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“Jamal deserves this more than I do,” Haughton laughed. “I want to say this was courageous what I’m doing, but he demonstrated a lot of courage to pull through this.”
The pair knows they still have a long way to go in recovery.
“They’ve come a long way, their journey was not easy. It was very hard, it was long and it’s still a journey for them,” Bowman said.
Daahir promises that as he faces his next challenges, he’ll continue to work as hard as he can.
“I’ll continue to practice to get better each and every day,” he said.
Jamal Daahir and Judith Haughton will be honoured with their award at a celebration on Nov. 4.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
