Photo courtesy of Dr. Mohamed Ali Nur

Far from their native Somalia, Dr. Mohamed Ali Nur and family now live in the northern Swiss city of Basel. Front row from left: Ishwaaq, 12 (in orange scarf); Shadiyo, 10; Miriam Jama Siyad (wife); Shirwac, 14. Back row from left: Libaan, 16, Jabril, 18; Mohamed Ali Nur.

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(The veterinarian’s name in Somalia was Dr. Mohamed Ali Nur. Due to differences in naming conventions in Somalia and Western countries, his Swiss name is Ali Nur Mohamed.)

Wilkie, owner of clinics in Vancouver and West Vancouver in British Columbia, said she was struck by the sudden change in his life.

“Here's a veterinarian going about his business looking after animals who are truly in need, training farmers to care for their stock, and looking after his family, just being an ordinary guy,” she mused in an interview by email. “Then, through no fault of his own and with great violence, his life is profoundly changed.

“One moment, he's a veterinarian helping animals and people, and the next, he's a veterinarian with critical injuries and without a leg. Then he's a veterinarian recovering from his injuries without a place to live or work, who can't make a living in the profession he's worked at for many years. Then he's a veterinarian unable to work who isn't even in his home country. His friends, most of his family, his professional, industrial, and academic connections are all somewhere else.”

Wilkie continued: “I thought about how I would handle such a complete uprooting of everything I know and how emotionally devastating it would be. He has survived, though, and with grace. I thought about how resilient he must be. Then I thought about how we could help him, but the problem is immense (how do you give someone back an entire life?) and it seems so far away, physically.”

Her thoughts settled on his prosthesis. “That's something that we might change even from thousands of miles away,” Wilkie said. “We could give him some degree of physical relief, and maybe knowing that people from all over the world are thinking about him and wishing him well might give him some emotional relief, as well.”

She added: “I hope that we can get him a prosthesis that is light, that will allow him to walk and get around with much more ease, and that he can feel good about when he sees it and puts it on. I hope that it will be associated with good thoughts and memories to replace some of the bad ones.”

Man reported that a more modern prosthetic leg costs about $21,500, a sum his government health insurance declined to pay. Whether the price includes the cost of fitting and follow-up medical visits is unclear. The VIN Foundation is awaiting details on the full expense, process and timeline from Man’s physician.

Meanwhile, a veterinarian in northern Pennsylvania, Dr. Ronnie Schenkein, reached out to Man by email to send words of encouragement and ask if he and his family needed warm clothes for the approaching winter. Schenkein ended up sending seven parcels within three weeks at an estimated cost of $1,000.

“You know,” Schenkein said with a modest shrug in her voice, “it made them very happy. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have left everything behind, including part of your family, and being physically traumatized. ...

“I just figured, something good had to happen. I can’t totally fix their life but if it gives them an emotional boost to know they’re not alone and somebody cares, I think that’s a really good place to start.”

Reaching out to Man and his family also gave Schenkein a lift when she needed it. Until this spring, Schenkein ran her own practice. She retired, reluctantly, due to health problems. “I really missed it,” she said. “This thing really perked me up. This was fun. You have a tendency when you’re tired to feel useless. I don’t feel useless!”

Events in her family history also compelled Schenkein to help. Her grandfather’s brothers and sisters and their families, she learned recently, died in a Nazi gas chamber. Coming to grips with that fact, then reading about the monstrous attack on Man “rang all sorts of bells in my psyche,” Schenkein said.

Her response was to try to bring about a bit of redemption in Man’s world. Beyond corresponding with him and sending care packages, she’s donated to the Dr. Nur Fund and solicited donations from friends in person and on Facebook. She hopes others will do the same.

“People can be so hideous, and they can be so wonderful,” Schenkein said. “I guess having experienced some of the worst, I want him to experience some of the best.”