When Muhammad Ali’s family emailed a Sydney doctor, he thought it was spam

When Sydney doctor Dr Daniel Nour received an email from the estate of late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, he couldn’t believe it. So, he didn’t.

“The team got an email, and were like: we think this is spam. Someone is claiming that Muhammad Ali’s family found out about your work and they want to give you an award,” Nour recalled.

Former Young Australian of the Year Dr Daniel Nour will be honoured at the Muhammad Ali Centre’s humanitarian awards.Credit: Edwina Pickles

The former Young Australian of the Year agreed the email was probably not real and ignored it, along with a second missive sent to his personal address.

“It was when the general manager added me on LinkedIn and sent the same message that I thought: this might actually be legit,” he said.

In 2020, Nour founded Street Side Medics, a mobile health service for people experiencing homelessness in several locations across NSW.

Street Side’s volunteers include GPs, physiotherapists and nurses. On a clinic night, the team may provide care ranging from dispensing insulin for Type 1 diabetics to treating dental infections and tending to injuries.

Legendary former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.Credit: Adrian Short

Next month, the 28-year-old will take leave from his day job as a doctor at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital to fly to Louisville, Kentucky to receive one of the Muhammad Ali Centre’s annual humanitarian awards.

He is the first Australian to be recognised since the awards began in 2013. Previous recipients include infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci and war correspondent Ann Curry, and Ali’s wife, Lonnie Ali, is involved in selecting the winners on behalf of the not-for-profit organisation she founded in her late husband’s name in 2005.

Nour will give an address to the room about his work. He said it would be an interesting experience, given the differences between the Australian and US health systems, describing the latter as “terrible”.

“It will be [on] the importance of improving access to healthcare and the impact that improving healthcare can have on someone’s overall health and wellbeing,” he said of the speech.

Speaking at the awards is a particular honour for Nour, as he remembers reading and listening to Ali’s own famous orations, including his 1974 speech, “The Greatest”, during his studies.

“I think every young person at some stage has listened to Muhammad Ali’s speeches and been inspired. He’s definitely someone that inspired me,” he said.

When Nour won Young Australian of the Year in 2022, Street Side Medics had a team of 250 volunteers. Now, that figure is 600. The organisation’s four vans have tripled across NSW, with a Melbourne branch planned “in the next few months”.

“There’s a five-year goal to expand to a few other states that could use the service,” said Nour, who is conscious the model would not work in all communities.

Leading US doctor Anthony Fauci is a previous winner of the Muhammad Ali Centre’s humanitarian award.Credit: AP

There are other projects afoot: research work on people experiencing homelessness’ health conditions and access to care, an education program for schoolchildren and the beginnings of a partner program for employment opportunities for patients.

Nour is also working on a medical school unit for his alma mater, James Cook University, on providing care to people experiencing homelessness.

“In medical school, I learned very, very important things like Indigenous health, rural, tropical and remote healthcare, healthcare of migrant communities. But I never learnt about homeless people, and the impact of homelessness on their healthcare,” he said, adding that he believes every hospital should have a caseworker available to provide support to homeless patients.

The past year has been busy for Nour: he was one of 14 Australian representatives at King Charles’ coronation, he got married, and, in his mind, the biggest achievement, he completed his exams for the college of physicians. Nour will start as a cardiology advanced trainee at Royal North Shore next year.

‘There’s nothing special about me ... but with a number of other people we’ve built something amazing.’

Dr Daniel Nour, the founder of Streetside Medics

Jokingly calling the discipline “plumbing and electricals”, he was drawn to cardiology because of the ability to be a physician and engage with patients, but also to do intervention.

While he continues to be the chair of Street Side Medics and attends clinic on the van where he can, Nour says he is proud to have created an organisation that will grow as he continues his hospital career.

“I always say: there’s nothing special about me ... but with a number of other people we’ve built something amazing.”

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