Farah's Story: Tragedy and Triumph

March 29, 2005 -- -- Farah Ahmedi, now 17, is the second of three finalists in the "Good Morning America"/Simon & Schuster "Story of My Life" contest.

Hers is a story about love, family, hope and some angels that helped her along the way.

Farah's First Angel

Despite the dangers that surrounded Farah as she grew up in war-torn Afghanistan, she says she loved her family and her life.

"We had this gorgeous house and our family and business," she remembered.

But one day, as 7-year-old Farah made her way to school, as she had done so many times before, the unthinkable happened.

"It was a … bright light and the ground just shook," she said.

Farah had stepped on a land mine.

"I started screaming, 'Help me, help me!' " she recalled.

Then, Farah says, an angel appeared -- in the form of a neighbor who got her to the hospital just in the nick of time.

Alone in Germany

The child was bleeding and her legs were so badly mangled that she was rushed to another hospital -- this one in Germany -- by a relief agency working in the area.

Doctors in Germany were forced to fuse the girl's right leg -- making it permanently unbendable -- and they also had to amputate her left leg below the knee.

"I couldn't cry," she said. "It was so shocking to me."

Farah was alone in Germany for two years, with no visitors. Her mother, Fatima, had only a lock of her daughter's hair to remember her.

"I was crying every day," Farah said.

Alone and suffering, Farah says another "angel" entered her life -- a woman she only knows as Christina.

Christina had a son in the hospital at the time and when she heard Farah crying, she felt compelled to dry her tears and offer the lonely child some comfort.

Farah knows little about this angel, except her first name and the peace she gave her.

Returning Home

After 2 ½ years in Germany, Farah was finally able to return home to Afghanistan and her beloved family.

Overjoyed to be back home, Farah's excitement soon subsided as the sound of rocket attacks echoed through the streets on a daily basis.

The rocket attacks seemed particularly heavy one day when she and her mother were out at the market. They hurried home.

What this child and her mother found -- both of whom had already suffered so much -- was unimaginable.

A rocket had struck their home, killing Farah's father and two sisters.

"I woke up with them and had breakfast and then for lunch, they were gone," she said. "My mom was crying. She was pulling her hair."

There was nothing left. No home movies, no photographs, just memories and tears.

To make matters worse, two months later, Farah's two brothers fled to Pakistan, fearing they would be drafted by the Taliban. They've never been heard from again.

Now Farah and her mother were alone, and they too escaped into Pakistan, walking over a mountain pass.

"She kept me strong, I kept her strong," Farah said.

A New Life

After living in a Pakistani refugee camp for four years, Farah and Fatima were brought to Illinois by a refugee relief group in May of 2002.

Farah recalled that when she came to America, "I felt like we were in heaven."

It was in Chicago that Farah met Alice Litz, a volunteer who became her mentor and her most important angel.

Alice helped Farah and her mother adjust to life in America and to negotiate American ways and means.

She and her husband, John, introduced them all things American, including one of Farah's now favorite pastimes -- golf.

"Some of the grown men weren't hitting the ball as far as she was and I thought that was kind of neat," John said.

Although she has nightmares every night, Farah refuses to give in, and according to those close to her, she refuses to complain.

"I lost my leg, I lost my family, I am out from my country but I never gave up," she said. "I stood up and fought and I will keep doing and I will keep going."

If you would like to read an excerpt from Farah's story, "The Story of My Life: Tragedy and Triumph," Click Here.