Louisiana Sandusky lets us know what is up with a patient she had cared for for a time when the lady was in the hospital. She saw her the other day on the street, homeless, and struggling to find a place to live, let alone, a job. What she saw broke her heart.
I can't believe it, but the other day, I saw her. HER being Fahid Al Mahood, and what I saw made my eyes fill with tears and my heart cry out of pity.
I was in downtown Nashville, at the local homeless shelter, dropping off some used clothes and toys that some of my kids had since outgrown or stopped playing with, and here came this woman, dressed in ragged, torn black clothes, looking for a place to stay for the night. The air had a bit of a chill to it, the sign of an approaching fall season, and she was cold and wanted a place to sleep. When I saw her face, I immediately felt a stab of recognition, and my eyes at once filled with tears. The woman who was looking at me was none other than a patient I had taken care of for a time when she was in the hospital, and her name was Fahid Al Mahood.
Fahid Al Mahood was in her early 40's, and she had been in the hospital from when her husband, Amir, had thrown acid in her face in a fit of rage, severly burning her on the face, chest, throat, and neck, and now she was heavily scarred for the rest of her life on one side of her face, and she also had a tracheotomy tube in her throat. When I asked her why she was at the shelter, she said that she had no place to stay, and she was now on the street.
I asked her what had happened with her friend, Huda, and Fahid explained to me that Huda and herself had a fight, because Huda was seeing a man, and she and her boyfriend didn't want Fahid around; and now Huda had thrown her friend out onto the street. When I heard the news, my heart broke, and my eyes filled with tears. If there was anyone who deserved compassion and understanding, it was Fahid Al Mahood. She had come from Iran to America, to make a better life for herself and her husband, Amir, and their young son, Amir, Jr., and then Amir, Sr. had abused his wife once too often, and he changed her life dramatically when he burned her with a caustic substance, scarring her face forever. Then September 11, 2001, happened, and Fahid Al Mahood was even more of an outcast: nobody wanted nothing to do with her because she was, in their eyes, a "worthless and dirty Arab" who was "probably a terrorist in disquise" when she was, in reality, a shy, quiet, and unassuming young woman who only wanted to have a peaceful life in America. In Iran, there was always the constant threat of violence and terrorism, and she felt imprisoned; and she wanted nothing more than to be free and have a chance to better her lot in life. This was why she had come to America in the first place.
Now America had turned her back on her it seemed; she was without husband and son (her son was now in an undisclosed location and was now in foster care, and her husband was now in prison for the premeditated murder of his wife, who, in the end, managed to escape being killed; she was still very much alive), and she was also without a home and a job. She had nothing on herself but the clothes on her back, and you could clearly see in her eyes and on her face just how much she was suffering, and it made me cry.
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
I can't believe it, but the other day, I saw her. HER being Fahid Al Mahood, and what I saw made my eyes fill with tears and my heart cry out of pity.
