CINCINNATI -- When it comes to counting our blessings, we're all guilty of overlooking something as simple as dinner with family.
Zainabou Drame's family won't make that mistake again.
The 7-year-old has defied the odds after a brutal pit bull attack in June 2014. Through surgeries on her face and windpipe, and the complications that followed, she and her family have been adjusting to their new normal, each milestone another reason to hold her closer.
"She's just playing and going to school and playing the cello," mom Tanina Drame said. "She still wants to do ballet again -- you know, just being a kid."
Despite a multi-million-dollar lawsuit judgment, her family may never see the money. Drame's hospital bills stand at $1 million and counting.
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They didn't have to worry about the cost of this year's Thanksgiving dinner, though: Neimar Hensel, general manager at Boi Na Braza Brazilian steakhouse, invited the Drames free of charge. The idea came from a mutual friend.
"The community has really embraced us, and it's time for us to give it back to the community and nothing better than Thanksgiving," Hensel said. "When he told me about this little girl, we really felt that we really need to do something for them."
Since the attack, the Cincinnati Police Department and other community groups have set up fundraisers for Drame's family, another blessing they counted Thursday.
"I just want to say 'thank you' for everybody who's been in her life, helping her, praying for her," Tanina Drame said. "I'm very thankful and blessed."
