海角社区

After the bomb, Martina聽Kuhar knew she was lucky to be alive. Now she鈥檚 making the most of it

After the smoke cleared from the explosion, Martina聽Kuhar saw her second chance at life. She鈥檚 not wasting it.

Martina grew up in Zagreb, Croatia鈥檚 capital. It was 1991, the year Croatia鈥檚 war for independence began. Times were tough enough that at age 16 Martina worked at a restaurant 鈥� not for pay 鈥� but just for food.

She normally took train 17, but on this day and for no particular reason, she boarded an earlier one. 海角社区 5 minutes after stepping off and as she neared her work, a bomb exploded, killing more than 100 people, most were passengers on train 17.

鈥淚 stood there frozen. I didn鈥檛 know what was happening,鈥� she says.

What she came to know was this: She was lucky and alive and she wanted work that mattered. She chose nursing and by age 23 she was working 70 hours a week in the U.S. as a certified nursing assistant (CNA).

She recalls her boyfriend at the time asking her to help get his cousin a “useless, low-end job鈥� like hers. Her response: “I take care of people, it鈥檚 a valuable job.”

Martina says the exchange made her understand how little some people valued different levels of healthcare workers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a basic, entry position, but it鈥檚 also important,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 have a strong respect for people in the front lines.鈥�

She went on to earn a degree in exercise physiology and eventually moved into healthcare administration. Today in the MHA program, she鈥檚 shoring up the skills she needs for her plans, which include advocating not only for patients, but also for the front-line workers.

鈥淚 want to help them get the respect they deserve.鈥�