NEW YORK, Sep 14 : The Pakistani-American community in Houston, Texas, has rallied around a Pakistani female student who was severely injured by a hit-and-run driver and lying in pain in intensive treatment at a hospital, according to media reports.
\nDania Zaheer, 25, was crossing the street near a Houston shopping centre on Sept 7 when a man behind the wheel of a vehicle hit her and drove off.
\nHe has still not been found.
\nInterviewed by a television reporter, Dania, who looked battered, spoke through an oxygen mask, said, \u201cI have a broken pelvis, broken arm, broken femur, broken hip, skull fractures, a broken eye socket, and fluid in my lungs, which makes it hard to breathe.\u201d
\nDania had left her family behind in Karachi a few months ago to earn her master\u2019s degree in business administration in Houston.
\nShe said she thought she would face recovery alone, but fortunately, some local organizations are jumping in to help.
\n\u201cTo see somebody who is about the same age as my daughter laid up and crying like that and in pain, it was very painful to see,\u201d Salman Razzaqi, president of the Pakistani Association of Greater Houston, said after visiting her.
\nPolice said they still have no leads on who hit Ms. Zaheer. They have a witness who saw what happened, but he couldn\u2019t provide the suspect\u2019s description.
\nDetectives are still looking for video, but they have yet to find any since ABC13\u2032- TV\u2019s last call.
\nShe suffered a myriad of injuries in the crash.
\nWhen Razzaqi watched ABC13\u2019s interview on Thursday with Ms. Zaheer, he rallied together community leaders and even Pakistan\u2019s Consul General Aftab Chaudhry visited her.
\n\u201cI think she is coming back to normal. She saw this response, help, support and heard comforting words from all of us,\u201d Razzaqi said. \u201cOur goal is to get her back on her feet, go back to college, get her degree, and find her American dream.\u201d
\nOne of the people now in Ms. Zaheer\u2019s corner is Houston businessman Ali Sheikhani. He said that through a foundation that started in memory of his late mother, he plans to do everything to help Ms. Zaheer.
\n\u201cI told her, \u2018Please, focus on your health. Don\u2019t worry about the (finances). We will take care of the (finances). We will talk to her mom and dad (and) pay for school fees. We will take care of everything,’\u201d Sheikhani, CEO of Sheikhani Group Inc., said.
\nWhen she spoke from the hospital, she had no idea how she could get through recovery.
\n\u201cI am all alone here. I have no one here, not even someone to take care of me. I don\u2019t even know after getting out of the hospital who will be there,\u201d Ms. Zaheer said.
\nIn a touching turn of events, a plan is now in motion to fly Ms. Zaheer\u2019s parents to Houston.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll talk to our attorney and try to get them a visa as fast as we can,\u201d Sheikhani said.
\nMs. Zaheer, still very weak, told ABC13 that she is thankful for all the support. She asks for privacy and for the public to let trusted organizations take it from here.
\n\u201cWe will do everything in our power to make sure she gets through this. I think she will be back to normal in no time,\u201d Razzaqi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK, Sep 14 : The Pakistani-American community in Houston, Texas, has rallied around a Pakistani female student who was severely injured by a hit-and-run driver and lying in pain in intensive treatment at a hospital, according to media reports. Dania Zaheer, 25, was crossing […]<\/p>\n
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