Saad is a former Marine 99-04, current full time Lyft driver, published author, peer counselor with the Trauma Survivors Network at MetroHealth and part-time mobile counselor. He’s witnessed and survived what most deemed impossible, by the grace of God. As a result, it’s his life’s goal to be the hope, inspiration and motivation he needed to get through and overcome the hardship/tests of life, for others. One important decision he made was to not let others tell him what his limitations should be. “No body knows you better than you know yourself” is one of the mantras he uses to guide his clients that need reassurance due to the doubt from others.  After his horrific motorcycle accident, he was given a five percent chance of survival, and a zero percent chance of any normal life. He had Muslims, Christians, and Jews that he doesn’t know making prayers for him in 7 different countries around the world. “We live for our legacy, with God and with mankind.”  But after a lengthy stay in one of the best trauma hospitals in America, he began to recover slowly from his severe TBI (Traumatic Brian Injury). He set daily goals while he was in the hospital, one of these daily goals is to help at least one new person a day. This why his interview happened with channel 19 news,  this is why he started driving for Lyft, and this same goal is why he published this book. He calls himself Saad8.5 today, “I’ve been upgraded a few times by what I’ve been through. I couldn’t be the man I am today without going through everything.”  He learned how to use the doubt from others to motivate him to at least try. 

​

“If you try and fail, what changes? It frees your mind to focus on your next accomplishment.” He is a walking testimony to the power of prayer and the grace of God. 

 

“Anything is achievable if you have faith in God, a clear end goal, pure intentions, drive/motivation, the three P’s (Prayer, Persistence, Patients) and a little stubbornness.”