Huckleberry Kid, Shot 6x In Robbery Needs Recovery

Huckleberry Kid - an adored and treasured friend to pretty much everyone, everywhere he goes - was shot six times when armed robbers came into his workplace, Dockside Cannabis in Shoreline, WA, on the night of January 5, 2022. He was immediately rushed to Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle where medical experts addressed life-threatening wounds to his liver, stomach and intestines, left arm, and left leg.

 

His girlfriend Hayley got the first call:

"My heart stopped when my boyfriend of six years called me two weeks ago. He screamed into the phone, "I love you; I love you, I love you," and my body couldn't absorb his words. Huckleberry Kid, my best friend since I was sixteen. The person I wake up and fall asleep with each day. The person who has the innate ability to see and uplift everyone was bleeding out after an attempted murder during a failed armed robbery at his work, Dockside Cannabis. I heard his coworker realize that he had been shot. I heard her scream out, sobbing for anyone to call 911. I heard her ask the EMT how to apply pressure to his wounds; I heard Huckleberry pass out... I thought I heard him die. I worried my last words to him would be, "please, put someone on the phone," so I would know what was happening or if he was even alive."

Huckleberry is only 22, but life has dealt an immensely loving individual a cruel and unfair hand. Whether he was asking his girlfriend out to prom by spreading flowers all over her driveway, babysitting her nephews as newborns because her brother-in-law was deployed, making comments about Hayley's "big beautiful heartbeats" when she was in the ER to calm her, calling his father to make him laugh about the time Huck tried to feed him snow disguised as mashed potatoes as a child, or spending an hour cleaning, applying butterfly stitches and gauze to his roommate's sliced open finger, he lives to make people feel better. Huckleberry has always been entirely selfless in offering his support and kindness. He takes charge to make sure the people around him are happy and thriving. Huck constantly talks about his dreams of becoming an EMT or pediatrician to take care of others. That is why he started working at the dispensary; he loved helping others find relief from their aches, pains, anxiety, and ailments. It gives him satisfaction to know he's positively impacting his community.

Armed robberies at cash-only dispensaries are becoming an increasingly significant problem in Seattle; however, Huckleberry was the first to almost lose his life. On January 5th, there was no security guard at Dockside Cannabis, leaving Huck to check the IDs of incoming customers. Two men came in, drew their guns, and a bullet flew past Huckleberry's ear. Realizing his life was in danger, he tried to grab the gun out of the hands of the first assailant resulting in two bullets to his arm, and as he grabbed the upper hand over the shooter, two bullets to his leg. Catching up with the struggle, the other robber delivered two shots to Huck's abdomen. As Huck fell to the ground, they fled, with only a wallet for a prize. Huckleberry was rushed to Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle for surgery, where his medical team found that the bullet to his abdomen had hit his liver, stomach, and intestines, barely missing his spleen - a wound that would have killed him.

 

The day after the shooting, Huckleberry's recovery seemed clear-cut, but no one knew all the terrifying complications that were about to unfold. He kept crying and begging for water when we saw him, but he could only get his mouth misted every half an hour. One of the worst things in life is to deny the person you love something as simple as water. He had lost feeling and movement in his guitar hand, and if you know Huck, you know how devastating the idea of not playing music, an integral part of his life, is for him. Still, we all thought he was going to be okay.

 

However, the next day, Huck started to get sick. He was put on life support in the ICU due to an irregular heart rate and rapidly dropping blood pressure. The doctors couldn't figure out why his physical state was worsening. His family and friends desperately waited for news, anything to tell us why this was happening. Two days later, we did get information. One evening, the doctor rang, telling us he had sepsis. The next day, he had pneumonia and an infection in his colon. We couldn't talk to him, touch him–anything to tell us he would be okay. Huck was unconscious for over a week, hooked up to tubes, breathing with a ventilator, drugged up, moved in and out of the ICU and surgical room, unable to breathe on his own, and practically comatose.

 

Due to this trauma, Huck's life has been irrevocably changed physically, mentally, and financially. He can't walk. He has a cast on his left arm, a screw in his elbow, a brace on his left leg, and his stomach is stapled closed, which is incredibly painful. Moreover, he hasn't been able to have visitors since he's been conscious because of the Omicron variant sweeping through Seattle. He is so upset that we aren't visiting him, but he isn't coherent enough to understand why which breaks our hearts. We already know he won't be able to work until he's finished recovering. We don't know when that will be. We don't even know when he'll be able to shower on his own or eat solid food again.

 

Huckleberry has taken care of his loved ones all these years, but now, he needs our help. Therefore, we are starting this Go Fund Me to meet Hucks's needs. It will be a long recovery, and he will need at-home caretakers, physical and mental therapy, medical bills, rent, grocery, and transportation costs paid. Realistically, we know more expenses will accumulate during this. Still, we don't want him to worry about paying for the help and necessities he now needs when his sole focus should be on healing from this traumatic experience. Our heart is already breaking due to needless pain, sleepless nights, PTSD, and stress becoming a new way of life for Huck. We all worry that financial stress on top of his pain will prolong his recovery. Huck will bear these physical and emotional scars for the rest of his life, but you can help him recover. Donating to this Go Fund Me can help Huck heal and move past this horrific and unnecessary gun violence. Your donations will change his life forever by aiding him in receiving the help and care he urgently needs.

 

In closing, we must protect victims of gun violence. The fact that dispensaries are a cash-only business until federal cannabis legalization means more vulnerability to robberies and violence - as Huckleberry can attest. We must protect and help our workers, especially those who become victims of gun violence and have had their life suddenly and uncontrollably changed. If we don't, we lose valuable members of our communities, strong people whose life experience as gun violence victims have groomed them to become pertinent advocates and leaders in creating a safer and more just world that protects us all.

 

Please feel free to share our story with your community and help us spread our message. We cannot do this without you and are so grateful. Huckleberry's family and friends thank you heartily for taking the time to read this Huck's story and donating to his recovery. Your donations mean the world to us and will genuinely give Huckleberry the ability to heal after this horrific tragedy.

Thank you so much.