Getting to know Vildan is like opening a book you can’t put down — equal parts brilliance, resilience, and infectious laughter.
She is incredibly intelligent, wonderfully endearing, weathered by life yet still bubbling with joy. At 42, she jokes cheerfully about being a “42-year-old virgin still waiting for the right man,” delivering the line with such humour that you can’t help but laugh along with her.
Vildan was born with Crohn’s disease and spent much of her early life in and out of hospital until the age of 25. During that time, she was also helping raise her two younger siblings while her parents worked in high-profile careers. Her mother — a remarkable woman — was Turkey’s first computer scientist and welcomed her last child at the age of 40. Strength clearly runs in the family.
Then came an unexpected gift: remission. For 16 years, Vildan lived symptom-free, and during that time she soared professionally. Her career path is nothing short of extraordinary — from school teacher, to English translator for the United Nations and the World Health Organization for 11 years, and now serving as Secretary to the Minister of Health. A quiet powerhouse.
Two years ago, life dealt her a devastating blow. Her mother, her best friend, was diagnosed with brain cancer and survived only one month. The grief was profound, and soon after, Vildan’s Crohn’s returned — this time presenting differently. Instead of weight loss, her body responded by holding on, and last July she underwent surgery to remove 40 centimetres of her colon.
Today brought another chapter: the pain she’s been experiencing is due to a hernia along the surgical line. The plan now is gentle care — weight loss, a supportive body corset, no strenuous exercise (or belly dancing, which she had just started), and a liquid diet. Surgery may be back on the table in July.
And yet — through all of this — Vildan remains radiant. Positive. Joyful. Laughing.
So our next chapter together includes face yoga, long walks, shared jokes, and moving forward gently but optimistically. Because if anyone knows how to weather life’s storms with grace and humour, it’s Vildan.