College of Nursing colleagues rally to student in need

One of the last things you want to do the weekend before final exams is have to find a new place to live.

The truck destroyed the outer wall of Oliver’s apartment.

It was a Friday night early in December. Kassidy Oliver, a nursing student in the UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff, had settled into her apartment in Alliance to watch a movie. She’d asked her son if he wanted to watch with her. He decided to stay in his room and play video games.

About 20 minutes into the movie, there was a loud noise. Then, “everything went in slow motion,” Oliver said. A large pickup truck crashed through the walls of her apartment into her living room.

“It took a few seconds for me to realize what had just happened,” Oliver said. “It was so loud. I started screaming. The coffee table hit me and glass flew everywhere.

“The guy backed out of my apartment and ran into my car in the parking lot. My son came out of his room, and we called 911. The police, fire department and ambulance showed up in about five minutes.”

She said the man in the truck, allegedly intoxicated, didn’t get out of the truck nor say anything to her. He waited for the police to show up.

Oliver’s Christmas tree, 15-year-old ornaments, TV, DVD player, TV stand and other things were destroyed. She said she and her son were lucky not to be injured or killed.

“Someone was watching out for me,” she said.

The landlord had another apartment ready for her. But she had no time to settle into a new apartment yet. Finals would start in three days. Her apartment was boarded up with many of her things still there.

What came after brought tears to her eyes.

When she arrived at her new apartment, she found the landlord’s daughter had put a decorated Christmas tree in the apartment. Then faculty and students raised $525 for her.

“They’ve been great,” Oliver said. “You don’t know what people think about you until a terrible thing happens. How wonderful the college is to come together to support one of their own. They’re so wonderful. I can go get a TV or end table now. They are just an amazing group of people.”