Before cancer changed the course of her life, family and friends knew her as a “bookworm”.

“After completing my master’s degree, the Islamic University of Gaza honoured me as the first student in its history to finish a two-year master’s programme in just one year and four months,” she said.

She went on to begin a PhD before becoming an assistant professor at the same university, specialising in curriculum and teaching methods.

"I love learning. My whole life has been devoted to education.