Afghan refugee remains in critical condition after being hit by car in Charlotte
A mother of three from Afghanistan known for helping fellow refugee women in need remains in a coma in critical condition after a driver hit her outside her Charlotte home, her distraught husband said.
Diyana Faizmand, 35, suffered multiple broken bones and possible brain injuries when the driver hit her just after 6 a.m. March 21, husband Husam Alhawari told The Charlotte Observer.
She lost an eye and is unable to talk or otherwise respond to her husband from her bed at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Alhawari said.
The couple have a 14-year-old daughter, and 9- and 10-year-old sons. Their mother’s recovery could take years, Alhawari said by phone from her hospital room.
What happened on Sunset Road?
Faizmand was crossing the 3300 block of Sunset Road from her mailbox to her home, Alhawari said. He is a truck driver and was leaving for work when he saw a car speeding toward them at what looked like 55 mph or greater in the 35-mph zone, he said.
The 67-year-old driver told a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer that she was “traveling in an unlit area” when she “came upon a female standing in the roadway,” according to a police report obtained by the Observer.
The driver said she “was unable to stop or avoid the female standing in the roadway,” according to the report.
The officer listed the driver’s estimated speed at 35 mph. The driver was cited for driving while her license was revoked and having no insurance, according to the police report.
Alhawari said police never interviewed him, even though he witnessed the collision.
The CMPD public affairs division didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Observer on Wednesday.
Husband starts GoFundMe for wife and kids
Alhawari hasn’t been able to work since the wreck because he’s at his wife’s bedside and caring for their children. Friends watch the kids when he’s at the hospital, he said.
Alhawari started a GoFundMe this week to support his wife’s recovery and their children.
Faizmand emigrated from Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2008 or 2009, her husband said. He is from Jordan and was living in Greenville, South Carolina, when they met online.
“’I can teach you English,’” Alhawari said Faizmand told him, so he moved to Charlotte. As a trucker, he could live anywhere, he said. They married in September 2019.
Faizmand works at the non-profit Braveworks organization in Charlotte, providing translation services and teaching jewelry- and other accessories-making to refugees and other women in need so they can support themselves, her husband said.
His wife “always helps others,” whether her family, women at Braveworks or feeding stray dogs and cats on Charlotte streets, Alhawari said. “I never met a person like her. She’s an incredible person.”
In a 32-second video on the organization’s website, Faizmand says being part of Braveworks “actually changed my life.”
“I work as a translator to pass all the knowledge and all the experience that I’m getting in here to be able (to help women) gain the confidence that it can be worth it for them, for the future, that anything can be possible,” she said.