Community Support & a Mother’s Love is a M.U.S.T.

The best gift for a mother can be seeing the community come alongside your family during the most trying times — something Freshman Mentee, Victor Okolomike’s mother and entire family have experienced this year.

We are grateful that Victor is alive after being involved in a hit-and-run that almost took his life on March 1st. A passerby found Victor on the road a short time after, and he was admitted to the ICU at Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.

His worried family began to look for him when he didn’t return home. At 1:55 a.m. on March 2nd, Victor’s mother received a call to come identify a young man matching Victor’s description. Devastation washed over her as she entered the hospital room to find her boy unconscious, in casts, and hooked up to multiple life support machines. Victor was in a coma, with fractures to his ribs, shoulder, and legs, as well as severe head injuries. Doctors could not predict how long it would take — or even if — Victor would recover.

This is when the M.U.S.T. community rallied together. Upon learning the news, our ED, Kelvin Washington, rushed to Harborview and stayed with the family by Victor’s side, arranging meals, communicating with doctors and Victor’s school, and providing emotional support to the family.

After 17 days in the ICU, Victor emerged from his coma, began to breathe on his own, and slowly started regaining his memory and communication abilities. He was later moved to Seattle Children’s Hospital to continue his recovery.

Victor is an incredible young man with a broad smile, a passion for soccer, a loving heart, a standout Mentee, quick to make friends, and a gracious human. He’s dedicated to his education, maintaining a 3.4 GPA in his first year of high school, and has big dreams for his future.

It will be a long, hard road, but Victor’s family, the M.U.S.T. community, and his teachers and friends at Garfield High are all pulling for him. Knowing the strong, determined, resilient young man Victor is, we are confident he will one day be back on his feet living life to its fullest.

Reflecting on one of the hardest experiences of her life, Victor’s mom, Ada, had this to say about all the love and support:

“Thank God for M.U.S.T. Mr. Kelvin has stood by my boy’s side from day one, and we are so thankful for the M.U.S.T. family. And thank you to Garfield, they have shown my boy so much love.”