Waking up in a hospital bed was the moment that changed Rais Hasan’s life forever.

He had suffered no previous symptoms of illness. Investigations only began after he collapsed at his Shipley home, but the discovery of a malignant brain tumour was the beginning of an emotional and traumatic journey, which would leave Rais’s life on the line.

“It was touch and go whether I would live or not,” recalls Rais.

If he made it through the intricate operation there was a risk of paralysis. Fortunately he wasn’t paralysed, but Rais lost his ability to read or write, resulting in him spending the following two years retraining the right side of his brain to trigger the skills we learn in childhood and rely on throughout our lives.

“I had to retrain the right side of my brain because that is where the operation took place and that is where your memory and your retention is. I had to learn ABC because everything just disappeared. I couldn’t understand numbers,” recalls Rais.

Before suffering from the brain tumour the 56-year-old father-of-two from Shipley was leading a normal life working as a team leader for Bradford District’s youth service.

Confined to his home while he recovered from his treatment, Rais wanted something to do and discovered he had a flair for photography.

The gift of a compact camera for his birthday triggered his interest and he was soon snapping photographs around his home.

“I was housebound and hadn’t really had an interest before, but I couldn’t do anything or talk to anybody. On my birthday I was given a little compact camera and I started taking photographs in the house. It developed from there,” explains Rais.

“I thought ‘I have found another skill here, I will push on’ then I was off and away.”

He would take his camera on the short walks he took outdoors with his wife and family by his side to aid his recouperation.

“From working with the Prince’s Trust and also the Council for many years and then not having the ability to talk or understand anybody, it was a really hard time – but there was a lot of help from family and friends and the hospital staff were phenomenal,” says Rais.

In 2007, the year after Rais suffered his brain tumour, he became involved with the Bingley charity BTRS (Brain Tumour Research and Support across Yorkshire), formerly Andrea’s Gift.

He discovered BTRS while attending his radiotherapy sessions and meetings in Leeds.

Rais began taking photographs at the charity’s events and two years ago he joined Bradford Photographic Society after reading an article about the organisation in the Telegraph & Argus.

Rais’s images made an impression straight away. In his first year of joining he clinched the Print Of The Year award and also won the Monochrome pictorial trophy of the year.

Rais and the Society’s 30 or so members are putting on a two-week exhibition of their work at Shipley Library, from Monday, July 2 to Saturday, July 14. The event will also commemorate the Society’s 151st anniversary.

“It’s brilliant, the amount of energy people put in, and they don’t do it for money. It is all voluntary,” says Rais.

“And you learn so much about photography.”

A moody monochrome shot of Northcliffe Park in Shipley and a striking colourful image of a Mandarin duck in Saltaire are among the eye-catching subjects Rais has captured through his lens. He has progressed from the compact camera to a professional Nikon D300 model.

For Rais, photography has been a therapy which, along with the support of his family, friends and medical staff, has helped him restore the normality in his life. “It worked for me because I started taking photos and I was in isolation really, but was engaging with something in the house, then I started taking photos of other near things like Northcliffe Park,” says Rais.

Chatting with other photographers he would meet encouraged Rais to interact again. “That is how I started getting back into some normality, then I was feeling more confident every day.”

“Photography has got me engaged and occupied and helped me to recover so much it is beyond belief,” says Rais. “I am so honoured that I am here and I am doing my share of living.”

l Bradford Photographic Society meetings take place on Thursday from 7.30pm until 10pm at Upper Bolton Conservative Club, Sefton Hall, Idle Road. For more information, visit bradfordphoto.org.uk.