Zain Samji hasn’t been home since January. She hasn’t tucked her children into bed, or kissed them as they head off to school in months.
Instead, Samji spent more than 50 days and nights in hospital before being moved to a care facility to undergo daily rehabilitation for her horrific injuries.
“Every morning is a measure of how much pain I’m in,”‘ said Samji.
On January 19, she was crossing in a marked crosswalk at 52 Street and 61 Avenue SE when she was hit, then run over by a vehicle.
She has endured a dozen surgeries already, and will likely need more in the future.
“It’s hard to get out of bed. I wasn’t until recently thanks to practicing on my own, able to move my own legs off the bed. So I would have to ring for an aid to help me and then wait until they have the time to help get me to my wheelchair, ” Samji continued. “It’s hard. It is extremely hard”
As she continues to work at the small things – like standing, or taking a step, she is given a little bit of hope.
Police have charged someone in her case.
So far police have only confirmed someone is charged with causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of a collision, and that the person charged is a male.
Police are expected to release further information in the days to come.
Samji has always said she forgives the driver, but notes forgiveness doesn’t mean the slate is wiped clean. She wants answers.
“I most sincerely forgive him. I can’t carry that anger and weight but in order for forgiveness to mean anything I need to know what happened and why,” Samji said during an interview from a southwest care facility where she is receiving rehab.
Samji’s parents and brother are not so quick to forgive.
“Maybe if it happened to me it would be easy for me to forgive. Seeing my sister going through this I can never forgive…seeing my family and what we went through. I cannot forgive him.”
Samji’s family is not only grateful to police for their dedication to the case, but they know hundreds of Calgarians kept an eye out for potential suspect vehicles, called in tips to police, and prayed for her continued recovery.
“While I was at the hospital and also here ( at the care facility ) I have complete strangers who have recognized from beng on the news, and come up to me and saying their whole congregation is praying for me” said Zain Samji.
“I have had people on the street come up to me and say do you mind if I pray for you? We’re christian. When you say ‘sure’ they take your hand and start praying with you,” Samji’s brother Altaf Jima said.
As Samji continues her remarkable recovery, it seems her hard work is paying off. For the first time since the ambulance whisked her away on a cold January morning, she has received a timeline for when she might go home.
There are still some big ifs, but if Samji can climb stairs safely, and if doctors can avoid another surgery in the short term, Zain Samji could be home with her husband and two children, by the end of April.