Nasir Khali

I became a resident of the World on February 20th 1995. I lived for playing with my friends, and explore adventures in my life. When I turned three-years-old, I was enrolled in Kindergarten where I continue to build relationships with new friends and extended family. After two years, opportunities came knocking, and I moved to the United Kingdom for a stable life.

When I turned seven-years-old, I begun to experience challenges with my eyesight. Some of the early signs included short sightedness, difficulty reading books with small letters and mild headaches. These led to feelings of frustration, because as a child I couldn’t understand why I was not able to do what my age mates were doing. This became a concern, so I got referred to an optometrist for them to find out what was the issue. The medical examination and test results revealed that I have a benign brain tumour in the optic nerves, and diagnosed with a spontaneous condition called neurofibromatosis (Type 1). Consultations with the medical team followed, in an effort to save guard my eyesight. I was put on chemotherapy treatment to shrink and prevent the tumour from growing. After each treatment I was in pain, experienced fatigue, nausea and I had to be hospitalised intermittently. I developed a strong sense of fear, deeply thinking if my life would be going forward.

Unfortunately, in the course of the treatment, I became visually impaired when I was nine-years-old. Visual impairment was a hard diagnosis to accept, because my eyes welled up in tears. I became apprehensive for my future. To pull myself from these feelings, the first step was to accept my new reality with the support of my family, and church community. I was able to stand tall and make the best of my life. Though I lost my eyesight, I cherish the memories of what my environment is all about, animals, plants, colours and people.

When I lost my eyesight, music became my passion because I started to play songs on the piano by ear. I was later enrolled in formal piano lessons to learn the notes, chords and scales. I fostered my music talent and pursued it on further education at university. The music courses I studied gave me the experience of performing live in venues and producing music in the studio. Currently, I record different styles of music on an electric digital grand piano called Yamaha DGX660.

As time progressed, I relocated to Canada for better career opportunities for people with disabilities because I am a multitalented Musician, Voice Actor, Model and an Accessibility Ambassador who enjoys working with people.

I am passionate about Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion.

My dream is to inspire other people living with physical disabilities by sharing my experience globally.