Not Without God: A Story of Survival and what it’s about!

I wrote a book about a catastrophic accident I was in at sixteen years old that left me paralyzed. While trying to cross the street on my way to school, I was hit by a car. I had to be taken via ambulance to the local hospital, Botsford, but the hospital didn’t have the technology or scope to save me. So they sent me to a level one trauma hospital. I was flown via helicopter to Mott Children’s Hospital via Survival Life Flight at the University of Michigan.

That was where I went into 12 hours of emergency surgery. The doctors were able to save my life. The Lord was working through them. I had severe injuries. My spine had shifted and broke at the thoracic level. I had a fracture in my C1 vertebrae and had to wear a neck brace while in the hospital. I had internal bleeding, and my ribs were broken. My tibias and fibias were both shattered. I had to learn how to walk through an extensive amount of physical therapy, thousands of hours.

It’s a huge miracle I’m alive let alone able to walk. I use AFOs (an ankle to foot orthosis) and forearm crutches. Although I’m not walking as well as I would like, I am grateful for how far I’ve come. Some medical professionals predicted I’d never walk at all. The nurses in the hospital were happy for me because they thought I wanted to go home soon. I had to stay at the hospital for a little over three months. They made sure to send me home just before my birthday, and my nurses would come in and say, “Aren’t you happy to be going home?”

What they didn’t know is I was terrified. I didn’t want to go back into the real world. I knew it would be difficult for my family to take care of me. I didn’t know how best friends would receive me. I was the one who used to drive and pick them up. I was active before the accident. I was even on the Multicultural & Multiracial Diversity council at school that year. The teachers and administrators would always be pleased with my wise comments.

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There have been many blessings since the book has come out. My book proposal was accepted by Morgan James Publishing in New York, New York. I got to meet my publishers at Author 101 University in Las Vegas, and then I went to Author 101 in Las Vegas. I’ve had book signings and even got to have one at a local Barnes & Nobles. I got to Speak at Harvard University about my book to a group of 59 other entrepreneurs and the whole thing was live streamed!

I’ve gotten to meet celebrities at an event, “Living Legends of Entrepreneurial Marketing,” at Carnegie Hall. It’s been an amazing experience. Now I’m working on my second, “Not Without God: Hope In the Storm.” It will be a narrative as well but a teaching book also. This will be where people can write in various chapters that offer journaling sections. I ask questions like, “When was the last time God was really there for you, for example?” I do that so people can write and reflect upon their own lives. I’d like it to be a self help guide. But writing is optional.

I’m looking forward to the blessings that will come from my second book and most of all, it will be nice to reach out to more people. Tomorrow I will be featured on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” and interviewed on a podcast show. I’ll talk about my book, experiences, business, and life. I’m looking forward to it, and I hope that I am able to touch more lives and help more people!

About Zina

Zina Hermez authored the best-selling book “Not Without God: A Story of Survival.” Her stories have been featured in various guest articles, medical journals, magazines, newsletters, and over 300 of her own blog articles. As an educator for more than twenty years, she’s had the privilege of working with tens of thousands of students from different backgrounds and parts of the world. Her upcoming book, “Not Without God: Hope In the Storm” will be out later this year. Her writing endeavors earned her an invitation to speak at the Harvard Faculty Club’s “Business Expert Forum.” Zina’s goal is to help others overcome adversity, and she strives to do what she longs to–help other people. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Southern Writers magazine, and Suite T blog, among other places. Socializing with friends, taking business trips, listening to music, and meeting new people are among her hobbies. She was recently featured on Color Speak (a Grace and Truth Radio World! podcast). You can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, or Twitter.