Nursing student provides home for autistic woman from Israel
Predtechenskis and her sister took in 23-year-old Liel
By Jossie Carbonare
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PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — When Israel was attacked last year, 26-year-old AnnaMae Predtechenskis — a nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center — went above the call of duty.
“AnnaMae’s unwavering commitment to advocating for her patients and her community is truly inspirational,” said Colleen Thielk, chief nursing officer at Good Samaritan.
Predtechenskis, who had a personal connection with an Israeli nonverbal adult, immediately reached out to the woman’s mother overseas asking if she could help and if they needed a safe place to stay.
“Within 5 minutes of messaging, she responds back to my voice message and she’s like, yes, can Liel come,” Predtechenskis said.
From there, Predtechenskis and her sister took in 23-year-old Liel, who has severe autism.
She did all of this while attending nursing school at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
“I would be with her on the days off I wasn’t at work, and then my sister would take her when I was at work,” Predtechenskis said. “I would just try to do my school with her while she was coloring or after I put her to bed, so I was just kinda making time however I could, but we got through.”
Fast forward to Thursday, Good Samaritan has inducted Predtechenskis into the Tenet Hall of Fame and gave her an award for doing what she did.
“Taking care of people that are in a vulnerable situation, that’s always been something that has driven me and kept me going every day,” Predtechenskis said.
She says her special bond with Liel is one she hopes can be an example to others.
“She has this little twig that she looks at the world and she keeps it close to her eyes,” Predtechenskis said. “I want to see the world the way she sees it.”
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