LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Racing Louisville FC’s Nadia Nadim is working to recover after a knee injury cut her season short last fall. 

During the off-season, the 34-year-old forward completed medical school and visited an Afghan evacuee center in Qatar.    

What You Need To Know

  • Racing Louisville FC's Nadia Nadim said her heart is breaking over the conflict in Ukraine

  • Nadim and her family fled Afghanistan when she was a child

  • Nadim is recovering from an injury and took part in a training session in Louisville Monday

  • Last summer, she took part in an event launching a fundraiser for Afghan women and girls

 

This week, Nadim said her heart is breaking for those over 5,000 miles away, fleeing Ukraine.

She said she hoped the conflict would be over soon. 

"I think war is dumb," she said Monday. "I don’t understand it, and the worst part is it’s always the innocent ones that suffer the most, the ones that actually don’t know what’s happening. The children, the women, have to leave their countries ... You feel powerless."

As a child, Nadim and her family escaped from Afghanistan and ended up in Denmark, the country she now considers home. 

She said the people of Ukraine will need human kindness and all the help they can get. 

"Leaving your home, fleeing with nothing, just with your bags. It’s winter, it’s cold, every helping hand you can get," she said. "I hope that neighbor countries are going to be open and help them as much as possible. Right now, everyone is just trying to survive."

Last summer, Nadim spoke at an event launching a fundraising effort for Afghan women and girls, amid a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

"I think as long as there’s a bit of passion and empathy we can do great things," she said. 

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