School of Medicine mourns loss of dedicated, compassionate student

Uzoma Azuh, WSU medical student, died Sunday after fighting cancer for nearly a year. He was 23.

Since he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia last September, Uzo worked tirelessly to spread the word about the importance of joining the National Marrow Donor Program. The program maintains a centralized registry of donors and matches them with those in need of bone-marrow and blood stem-cell transplants.

Unfortunately, Uzo never found his match.

"It's a really important thing, not just for me, but for other families," he told The Detroit News last month. "There's a lot of misinformation about bone marrow donation."

Last year, Uzo, a second-year student, put school on hold to undergo treatment for his cancer. He had hoped to return this fall to continue his studies and become an oncologist.

"He faced his illness as he faced every challenge in his life: with faith, courage, humility and compassion. He will be sadly missed by all of us," said Kate Connors, his Student Affairs counselor.

Born in Nigeria, Uzo attended Riverside Secondary School, in Windsor, and earned a bachelor's of science in chemistry from Wayne State University . He graduated Magnum Cum Laude.

He is survived by his parents, Margaret and Victor Azuh, brothers Ogo and Chinye, and his grandmother Sabina Ukponu as well as friends and family in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States .

Funeral service s will be today, Aug. 17, at Parkwood Gospel Temple , 3005 Temple Dr., in Windsor. Visitation will be at 9 a.m. followed by the service at 10 a.m. Interment will be in Memorial Gardens.

Donations can be made to Uzoma Azuh's Trust Fund at Windsor Family Credit Union.