Bitseat Getaneh was inside a Silver Spring apartment building last year when suddenly there was a fire and explosion.
“I was sleeping, I woke up, the whole room was on fire. You can’t see anything except the fire,” she described.
It was the 17-year-old’s first night in America. Her dream quickly turned into a nightmare.
“I was dreaming, but it was real. Then I started running and running, but it was so hard, so hard,” Bitseat said.
She can’t remember how she was able to escape the chaos. The explosion killed seven people and wounded at least 30 others.
Bitseat was terribly burned, mostly on her left arm. She spent three weeks in the hospital and continues to recover. She now lives with her mother in Silver Spring.
The fire didn’t just destroy everything she owned.
“All of my money has been burned,” she added.
And that’s a big problem. Bitseat is in America as a foreign student. She has to pay tuition even to go to a local school.
“For Montgomery County public schools it’s almost $16,000 for a year,” explained Nick Katz, CASA Senior Manager for Legal Services.
CASA stepped in and created a GoFundMe page for Bitseat and donations have been coming in, but there’s a deadline.
“She needs to enroll in school by the end of the month, so we’re trying to wrap everything up in the next two weeks,” Katz said.
Bitseat has high goals. She wants to become a neurosurgeon. She’s aware she’s been given another chance.
“Maybe God has a plan to teach me, because the fire, I don’t know. He has a reason,” she said.
Bitseat’s GoFundMe has collected more than $15,000 dollars, but with fees and other expenses she still needs more. Her family has used up their savings since the fire helping Bitseat recover.
You can donate to Bitseat's fund HERE.
