Community rallies as Cary girl hit by car clings to life

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A week after she was hit by a car on busy Harrison Avenue, a Cary middle-school girl is clinging to life in the intensive care unit at WakeMed.

Friends of the family of Zahraa Hassan, 12, told ABC11 that the girl is has been in a coma since the October 28 accident.

"The emotion is very high," Ali Al-Haddad told ABC11 outside WakeMed.

Al-Haddad has known the Hassan family for years.

He said Zahraa is the oldest of four children.

"The challenge and the burden is too large for this family," he said. "The two parents have left their work and they're sitting next to their daughter who went in a coma on Monday and they have never gone back to work."

Friends, family, and neighbors have been caring for Zahraa's three younger siblings.

In fact, Al-Haddad said, an entire village is lending a hand.

"The community has come together, the medical staff and friends and family, the relatives. Everybody is chipping in, helping," he said.

But with both parents not working, a friend and neighbor decided to start a GoFundMe page to help make up for the loss of income and to help cover some of the medical costs.

You can donate to that cause here.

Although Zahraa is still in a coma, Al-Haddad said there is optimism.

"The medical staff have a strong hope that she will regain consciousness very soon," he said.

He said he knows the Hassan family will pay forward the generosity of the community.

And he hopes that one day, Zahraa will, too.

"Hopefully this girl will regain consciousness and go back to school and one day she might be a successful girl and give back to the community," he said.

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