'How Do I Beat This?' Cancer Survivor Donates Food To Hospital

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Zaki Omar woke up in a pool of his own sweat. Then, it happened again. And again. And again.

His body was weak. The simplest tasks left Omar exhausted beyond belief. Even showering left him tired enough to nap for hours. Omar didn't know it yet, but he had leukemia.

"I was diagnosed Jan. 17 of 2013," Omar said. "You don't forget those days, unfortunately."

After 2.5 years of chemotherapy, a leukemia relapse and a bone marrow transplant, the Prince George's County restaurateur officially beat cancer last year. Omar's time in the hospital gave him a newfound appreciation for medical workers. This year, Omar showed his gratitude by coordinating a massive food donation to the hospital that saved his life.

One of Omar's restaurants, called Atomic Wings, celebrated Wednesday's National Hot and Spicy Food Day by unveiling its new chicken sandwich. For every chicken sandwich sold Wednesday, Omar donated one to New York City hospitals.

Omar lives in New York, where Atomic Wings is based, but he also owns franchises across the nation. His Prince George's holdings include the Atomic Wings in Hyattsville and several Dunkin's around the county. Omar says he hopes to eventually expand Atomic Wings into Washington.

The eatery is the latest company to join the chicken sandwich wars, a trend of fast food chains introducing sandwiches to compete with Chick-fil-A. Whereas most competitors have one or two sauce flavors, Atomic Wings has 14. Omar says buffalo, honey barbecue, garlic parmesan and Thai chili are the most notable dressings.

Omar and his brother bought the Atomic Wings chain in 2016 after he finished his first bout with leukemia. The brothers' purchase honored their late father, who passed three years earlier after battling a brain tumor.

Their father, an Afghan refugee, also owned a restaurant. He moved to the United States in the 1980s after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Upon settling in New York City, he opened a fried chicken food truck on Wall Street.

"I remember being 12 or 13 years old working on my dad's truck and lines would wrap around the block," Omar said. "That left a lasting impression on me."

Omar and his brother continued their father's legacy. Together, they own all 21 Atomic Wings locations and eight Dunkin's along the East Coast.

The siblings' chicken sandwich is their first new product in a few years, so they decided to pair its release with a charitable gift. Atomic Wings will spread its donation between three New York City hospitals: NYU Langone Medical Center, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where Omar was treated. Though the goal is 1,000 sandwich donations, Omar hopes to contribute even more.

"I don’t mind if 50,000 people show up," he said. "That’s how much I’ll donate … I’d love for that to be the number."

A total of six months in the hospital left Omar with this drive to support health care workers. Through incomprehensible pain, Sloan Kettering's nurses helped Omar remain optimistic.

The company of family and friends made the days go by faster. Nights, on the other hand, felt like they dragged on for ages. When the sun went down, aches sprung up.

"I felt like all the bones in my body were stretching out," Omar said, adding that medicine did little to mask his pain.

The nurses remained by Omar's bedside, caring for him when he was at his lows. Their positivity and encouragement helped Omar push through, even when it didn't seem possible.

Radiation treatment was Omar's worst antagonizer. Some patients undergo radiation concentrated on one area of their body.

Omar, however, required full-body treatment. Words cannot sufficiently convey how agonizing this procedure is, he says.

"You’re there, in a white room, by yourself, strapped in, hearing loud noises beaming you with radiation," Omar said.

Chemotherapy and radiation sickness made it hard to keep food down. Some days, all Omar could stomach was a single bowl of cereal.

Still, relentlessly positive nurses helped Omar prevail. He was leukemia-free by the end of 2015, but that liberation didn't last for long. Cancer struck again in December of 2018.

Leukemia is a blood cancer that affects the body's ability to produce white blood cells. These cells, which form in bone marrow, help the immune system combat infections.

Omar's second fight with leukemia forced him to seek out a bone marrow transplant. The procedure injects a donor's marrow into the patient to help them replenish healthy white blood cells and rebuild their immune system.

Doctors scoured the donor database and found no match. The odds looked bleak, but Omar's family refused to accept defeat. His relatives all got tested to see if they could donate their marrow.

Their determination paid off, as one of Omar's cousins turned out to be a 100 percent match. Their bond made Omar all the more grateful to get a second chance.

"He was my best friend growing up all my life," Omar said. "This was kind of my only way out. It was life-saving."

The cousins completed the transplant in February of 2019, leaving Omar cancer-free once more. The gut-wrenching, six-year marathon was trying, but Omar never gave up hope, not once.

"As soon as I found out, I cried for about five minutes," Omar said. "Then, I asked 'How do I beat this?' This is the attitude I kept throughout."

Omar attributes his unshakable positivity to the nurses and doctors at Sloan Kettering, who he still visits.

He is even more proud of how those workers are handling the coronavirus pandemic. Their bravery is heroic and deserves applause, he says.

"They’ve shown to the rest of the world how amazing they are," the cancer survivor said. "Imagine if all the doctors and nurses called out during COVID because they were scared they could get sick. What would happen? It just goes to show how selfless they are."

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