The family of a North London schoolboy who died last year are hoping to get a cherry tomato named after him.
Shakeel Akhtar, who had life-limiting Duchenne muscular dystrophy, was a pupil at The Vale School in Tottenham until his death at the age of 19 in August 2006, and was a massive fan of the fruit, which he ate every day at home and school.
“I never used to buy cherry tomatoes at all, until one day I bought them to make a salad for some guests,” said Shakeel’s mother Afzalun Akhtar. “Shakeel tried one and he liked it so much he ate them every day. Even when he felt very ill and didn’t want to eat anything else, they were the only thing that he would always want to eat.”
In fact, Shakeel (pictured above at school) whose favourite subjects were information and communication technology and maths, even had images of cherry tomatoes as his screen saver and desktop background on his computer at The Vale.
Not just a good student, Shakeel was also a talented singer and a 10-pin bowling fan. “I would buy lots of cherry tomatoes every week, and if we got down to the last tomato and I didn’t have time to go to the shops, I would have to cut it in half so that Shakeel would still have some to eat the next day,” said his mother.
The Akhtar family and The Vale School are now hoping that the fresh produce trade will do the youngster’s memory proud and name a variety after him.
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