For 17-year-old Hajrija Ahmetovic, the night of Dec. 10-11, 2021, is one she would prefer to forget, but can’t help to remember.

Hajrija and her family lived through the terrifying night that saw their home on Moss Creek Avenue ripped apart and left her and her two sisters bruised and battered.

Picked up and then dropped by the fierce 150-mph winds, Hajrija was briefly knocked unconscious.

The experience, which Hajrija’s 13-year-old sister Demira Ahmetovic described as “like being dragged in water,” left more than physical scars.

“When it rains, we get scared a little,” said Hajrija, describing the psychological pain left behind by the nightmarish storm.

The horrible memories are only compounded by the terrible aftermath of the tornado that claimed 12 lives in the Ahmetovics’ neighborhood.

When the storm blew through, Hajrija’s father, Muharem Ahmetovic, herded his wife, three daughters and a family friend into a small closet that wasn’t big enough to hold him as well.

As a result, he had little protection from the deadliest storm to ever hit Kentucky and was left with broken ribs and serious injuries to his neck and back.

His wife, Indira Ahmetovic, who herself suffered injuries to her back and legs and is still having physical therapy, said Muharem Ahmetovic was in a coma for days and spent six months recuperating in Nashville’s TriStar Skyline Medical Center.

Although he has been released from Skyline, Muharem Ahmetovic isn’t able to work and continues to see doctors and therapists both in Nashville and Bowling Green.

Sabrina Ahmetovic, Hajrija’s 16-year-old sister, recalls seeing on that December night what may have been life-saving help from neighbors who pulled her parents out of the debris.

More help came later.

Indira Ahmetovic and her daughters spent a couple of nights at the home of an adult daughter, and then help came from the Housing Authority of Bowling Green.

The Housing Authority provided a vacant apartment on McDivitt Court, and the residence was stocked with brand-new furniture, bedding and food, thanks to donations from the community.

“People have helped with furniture and food,” Indira Ahmetovic said just days after the tornado. “A lot of people helped me.”

Help came from a lot of places, said Housing Authority Executive Director Abraham Williams.

“I’ve had calls from all over the Southeast,” Williams said just days after the storm. “One guy wrote us a check for $10,000, and I got a $7,000 donation from my hometown in Alabama.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of stuff, but I’ve never seen generosity and caring like this.”

A Bosnian refugee who has lived in Bowling Green for more than 20 years, Indira Ahmetovic is grateful for that generosity while admitting that she may need more help as she and her husband recuperate.

“He (Muharem Ahmetovic) has applied for disability, but we haven’t heard anything yet,” she said. “We still need help.”