Elite runner struggling to recover after hit-and-run crash leaves her seriously injured
Nuhamin "Naomi" Bogale was a fast runner.
"For one mile, like 4 minutes," she said. "I was dreaming to be a world record holder."
She grew up in Ethiopia where there is a very competitive distance running community. Many world champions have come from her home country.
She stood out as a child, winning medals at the Junior Olympics. She earned a spot on the Ethiopian National Team and even got a sponsorship from Nike.
She had run with and against the best of the best in the 800m, 1500m, and mile races, and won. It seemed like her running career was just getting started. Then she had a setback.
"I got an Achilles tendon injury because of the hard training," she said.
She lost her sponsorship with Nike and decided it was time to move to the United States to recover and take her game to the next level. In the U.S. she would have access to better medical treatment which would help her grow as an athlete.
She landed in New York City and started training. With access to better resources, she got fit again. She made money by winning races, coaching and working as a physical therapist.
After running a half-marathon in 1 hour and 13 minutes, she decided she wanted to train for a marathon. Like so many runners, she chose Colorado as her training ground and moved to the Centennial State.
"Because in Colorado the weather is good and there is high elevation," she said.
The training was going well in her new home of Aurora, and Naomi had high hopes for the future once again. Then tragedy struck. She says in the early spring of 2022, after her second workout of the day, she got a ride home from the gym. On the way, a hit-and-run driver ran into the car she was riding in.
She was taken to the hospital and was in a coma for weeks. When she woke up, she says something was different. She couldn't move her legs.
"I was so emotional at that time," she said. "Imagine, my legs learning to run at least 80 and 100 miles per week then nothing," she lamented.
Even though she has a spinal cord injury, doctors say, based on the little progress she made in physical therapy, with additional therapy, she could walk again.
The problem is paying for it. Her initial 3-month hospital stay and rehab were paid for by charity, but she has run out of funding. She is on a visa, so Naomi says she isn't eligible for Medicaid, and she hadn't yet bought medical insurance for herself after moving to Colorado.
After three months, the rehab hospital where she was staying told her she had to leave. She says she told them she has no family or friends to take her in but they made her leave anyway.
"They said we have no idea. Maybe you go to a shelter or (become) homeless," said Naomi.
Naomi made her living by running and has now lost that income, and without an income or a place to live she says she can't afford to keep going to therapy and she has no money at all to start a new life.
An Aurora couple from a local church who had been visiting her took her in temporarily, but they say they can only let her stay for a month. So, Naomi once an elite athlete, is now scrambling to find a place to stay and a new way to support herself.
She is scared and heartbroken but the athlete in her is determined to come back once again. She says she thinks she can get back on top, all it will take is a little help from God and the Colorado community.
"I believe if I can walk again, why not? I can run again," she said.
Naomi doesn't want to return to Ethiopia because she says medical resources for someone like her are limited.
She is raising money on a crowdfunding site and looking for a sports-related job and a place to live that is wheelchair accessible.
