Crushed Dreams

By Nimo Omar

What can you do if youve been traumatized? How can you get back to a normal life? How long before your pain goes away? Are you becoming addicted to the painkillers and medication that are being given to you as part of treatment? Are you a doctor or hoping to become one but never had a patient who had been in a bomb explosion or similar tragedies? If those are your questions, this book has all those answers, including lessons from the doctors.
This memoir shares the story of one young womans shattered dreams when she was seriously injured in a car bombing in Ethiopia.
When author Nimo Omar, also known Fathi, left Ethiopia in 2006, she was excited to forge a new life in the United States. Even though she talked to her father by phone, Omar missed him and planned a visit in 2013. Before she could greet her father in person, Omar was seriously injured. Her life was changed forever when a bomb placed under the truck she was riding in exploded. In Crushed Dreams, she tells her story.
This is a story of perseverance, and Omar narrates her long journey to recovery. She shares how she dealt with the pain and trauma and how she underwent many surgeries as she was determined to walk again, return to school, and make a difference in the world with her education.
Nimo Omar was born in the small village of Garloguba in Ethiopia. She moved to the United States in 2006. She graduated from high school in Nebraska and attended St. Paul College, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and graduated in 2017 in Metro-State University, where she continues to live.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532046735

Nimo Omar

When Nimo Omar also known Fathi left Ethiopia in 2006, she was excited to forge a new life in the United States. Even though she talked to her father by phone, Omar missed him and planned a visit in 2013. Before she could greet her father in person, Omar was seriously injured. Her life was changed forever when a bomb placed under the truck she was riding in exploded. In Crushed Dreams, she tells her story. Nimo Omar was born in the small village of Garloguba in Ethiopia She moved to the United States in 2006. She graduated from high school in Lexington,Nebraska and attended St. Paul College, in St. Paul, Minnesota, graduated Metro-State University 2017 where she continues to live.

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Copyright © 2018 Nimo Omar.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-4672-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4673-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901569

iUniverse rev. date: 04/11/2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PROLOGUE

1. MY JOURNEY TO ETHIOPIA

2. FOREVER CHANGED

3. WAITING FOR HOPE

4. THE LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY

5. FINALLY HOME

6. PAIN AND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS

7. REFLECTIONS ON MY JOURNEY AND LESSONS FOR THE DOCTORS

8. THE NEW NORMAL

9. FINDING HAPPINESS AGAIN

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank my doctors in Ethiopia and my doctors in the United States for caring for me and saving my life.

To the doctors from MSF Doctors Without Borders, thank you. Without you I would not have received medical care when I needed it. Thank you for helping me pay for the surgery, which was over $50,000, so I didn’t have to worry about money when I was in pain.

To Dr. Andrew, you saved my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are my hero.

To all of the nurses in Ethiopia, thank you for being so kind while I was in the hospital.

To Ambassador Scott Riedmann, thank you for coordinating my hospital stay and for visiting me throughout my time in Ethiopia.

To my family members who went through so much pain watching me suffer, thank you for standing by me and for staying strong.

To my cousins, Abdifatah Sheikh-Ibrahim, Abdinasir Sheikh-Ibrahim, and Macalin Mohamed, who suffered the pain with me and were there for me through my healing, thank you. I would not have been able to get through it without you.

To everyone else who helped me get through this difficult, life-changing time, thank you.

PROLOGUE

I ’ve learned that life can change in an instant. But before my life changed forever, all I remember is being excited and a little nervous. I was about to see my Dad who I hadn’t seen in more than ten years.

I came to the United States for a better life. I couldn’t wait to see him again. I first met my uncle and siblings in Jigjiga. We all departed for my father’s hometown Garlogube and after many hours of traveling, we finally departed Wardher, a town just an hour and a half from my

father’s home. Now, just thirty minutes away, I couldn’t stop thinking about what my father’s face would look like. Would he be excited to see me? Would he think I looked different? I knew he would be excited to see me, and I was excited to see him. I loved my dad, and I missed him dearly. But today, that would all change as we would hug each other once again. As I was caught up in my thoughts of anticipation, something strange happened. A loud noise.