Tanzea Mahbuba - Reclaiming Her Independence

Deductable Donation

National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Tanzea S. Mahbuba is a beautiful 26 year old young woman who had everything to live for until June 12, 2008. It was that day that she was a victim of a tragic accident and an even more tragic victim of a broken system. Tanzea was sleeping in her bed at her Windsong Court Apartment in Winston-Salem, when a pick-up truck crashed into her apartment striking her in her own bed. This accident left Tanzea a high level quadriplegic. Tanzea is paralyzed below her upper chest. She can move her arms but cannot move her hands. She was self-employed and had limited insurance, and the driver was also poorly insured. Her insurance company required that she be discharged after only one month of rehabilitation. She does not have respite care or nursing support. Her mother had to leave her husband to move here from Bangladesh to care for Tanzea. She is living in her sister’s house which was already crowded with their family. Tanzea is trapped in the basement literally unable to get to the main level of the house. There is no bathroom on that level and Tanzea has not been able to take a shower or bath since the accident. She is only able to take sponge baths for which her mother is responsible.

Our Mission

Tanzea is receiving limited occupational therapy but nothing else. She has a loaner power chair, but not one prescribed to her. She does not have an accessible van. This means that Tanzea has to call the Yvette van for each of her appointments. She is not receiving Medicaid. So the Van cost $100.00 out of Tanzea’s pocket. She is canceling appointments due to the cost of getting to her appointments. She has a standard mattress on her hospital bed, not the specialized mattress that is designed for spinal cord injuries. Therefore, she has developed decubitus ulcers at her pressure points, commonly known as bed sores.

Please help her by donating money to help cover the cost of a used handicapped accessible van. A fund has been set up in her name at Wachovia I will also be nominating her for an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I will be circulating the attached petition to show your support for Tanzea and sign up also to be a volunteer if you would like to participate in the construction of a home for her.

Tanzea is the ultimate victim and we should not turn away from her. She desperately needs everyone’s help. I believe that the only reason that she is in this situation is because our community does not know her story. I know that if everyone knew that they can help her, they would.