Two women lost their lives in an accident in Phoenix on the night of Monday, June 17th. According to ABC 15, one of the women, Deqa Osman, was a beloved member of Phoenix’s Somali community.
Authorities say that the accident happened near the intersection of 52nd Street and McDowell Road when Deqa was attempting to help the other driver in an accident. While she was being a Good Samaritan, two additional vehicles collided, one of them jumping the sidewalk, hitting and killing Deqa and Jane Hurley, 26, a recent Ph.D. graduate who was with her at the accident site.
Deqa found a new life in the US after fleeing Somalia when she was just 19 years old. The single mother of eight did all that she could to both raise her children in her new home country and to reach out and help others whenever and wherever she could. Deqa’s daughter, Radwa, her mother was always generous to others.
“If she sees charities she’ll donate, if she sees homeless people, she’ll give them money, if she sees hungry people she’ll give food,” Radwa said. “She died helping somebody.”
According to Mustafa Haji with the Somali Association of Arizona, Deqa would always lend a hand to others to help them make their way through the difficult process of becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States.
If someone had nowhere to stay, Deqa would not hesitate to open her home to them. It was in her nature to always give back.
Deqa Osman will be deeply missed by the community that she gave much of herself to.
