Help Dania Zaheer Rebuild Her Future

Sept 13, 2024 - Dania's video message to her benefactors

My aunt in Pakistan, who belongs to a middle-class family, saved up for her daughter's MBA in the United States so she could get access to a better education and grow as a person.

My cousin arrived in Houston for her studies at the beginning of June and while crossing the street, she was hit by a truck driver who ran away while leaving her in ICU condition at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Trauma Building.

For those of you in Houston, if you can, please consider visiting Dania in the hospital. Imagine being in her shoes – alone in a foreign country, badly injured, with family an ocean away. Your visit, even if brief, could be a ray of light in her darkest hours. A friendly face, a gentle word, or just your presence could reignite her fighting spirit and remind her she's not alone. You have the power to be the family she needs right now, to give her strength when she needs it most. Let's show Dania that Houston has opened not just its doors, but its heart to her.

From Channel 13 — https://abc13.com/post/dania-zaheer-pakistani-mba-student-hit-and-run-houston-galleria-sage-road-westheimer/15293030/

"Dania Zaheer has a broken pelvis, hip, arm, femur, and countless other bones after the Houston Police Department said a driver hit her near the Galleria and then took off.

Speaking to Eyewitness News from the hospital, Zaheer said her injuries might not be the worst of it. The 25-year-old said she moved to Houston from Pakistan on a student visa, hoping to graduate with a master's degree in business administration from North American University.

However, she's in Texas alone, with no family or other supporting figures. Now, even once the hospital discharges her, she's left facing uncertainty.

"I had a really bright future, and now, I can't see anything," Zaheer said with cuts and fractures obscuring her vision. "My university professors - when they met me, (they) even told me, 'You are the kind of person we want to hire.'"

Zaheer has been in the city on her own since the start of the semester. She said last Thursday, she was crossing the street at Westheimer and Sage at about 8 p.m. when her memory went black. According to HPD, a person behind the wheel of a vehicle hit her and drove off.

"He didn't even stop to see who he hit or if that person was alive or not," Zaheer said, even though investigators didn't say whether the driver was male.

Police said they have a witness and were searching for video in the area, but investigators didn't have a vehicle or suspect description.

Emergency responders rushed Zaheer to Memorial Hermann, where she's been ever since. Doctors said she suffered at least half a dozen broken bones.

"There is fluid in my lungs, which is making it hard to breathe," Zaheer said, adding that she's a shell of the woman she once was. "I don't understand the point of being alive anymore. [...] My life is finished. There is nothing left for me."

Zaheer said her parents don't have the money to travel here, and the whole point of her coming to Houston was to give them a better life.

"I am all alone here. There's no one to take care of me, and I don't even know after getting out of the hospital who will be there," she said.

ABC13 shared Zaheer's story with the Pakistani Association of Greater Houston, which wants to help. She and the association's president have connected.

The hope is to set up a fund and connect Zaheer with local resources".