Matthew Silverstone would spend every day at the skate park, late into the evening.
The 18-year-old liked to hang out with friends and was always kind, his uncle, Kris Koehler, said in a video shared by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday.
Silverstone, who remains hospitalized in critical condition following the shooting at Evergreen High School last week, is now also being called a hero.
“I heard from many about how you were telling people to get away when they were coming back from lunch,” Koehler read from one of the cards sent to Matthew. “I knew many of these people and I cannot thank you enough for getting them out of there. You're truly a hero and such a kind person, so please get better soon.”
“So many of us owe our safety to you,” another card reads. “It's truly an honor to be your classmate. You deserve the world and more. I'm so sorry you have to go through this.”
“We get notes like that, and that raises all our spirits,” Koehler said.
Matthew’s mom is a single mom of three who adopted Matthew and his sisters out of foster care. Matthew was 6 months old when he came to their family and had already endured abuse.
But, Koehler said, Matthew still “grew into this just wonderful, kind, gentle, human being. To know that history, to know that that's the start he had, makes all of this just a bit even more unfair. No one deserves this, no one, but given that history, especially Matthew.”
The shooting at Evergreen High was one day after Matthew’s 18th birthday. A second student who was shot at the school and has not been identified is also still hospitalized and remains in serious condition.
Koehler shared that Matthew’s mom received a call a few years ago from the school, sharing that when a classmate had fainted, and while “everyone else was just sort of gawking and watching, Matthew jumped into action and was there holding the kid's head, talking them through until whoever came to assist him, assisted him.”
“That's the kind of kid Matthew is,” Koehler said.
Koehler said that the family is coming to accept that Matthew has a long recovery ahead of him. He’s facing multiple surgeries and possibly a lifelong recovery.
Every day, Koehler said, there are glimmers of hope, like when he squeezes a hand.
“We're all there to bring him strength, but at that first glance, you just want to melt in pain for him,” Koehler said.
The sheriff’s office also shared the family’s official GoFundMe account, where they are raising money to help cover Matthew’s growing medical bills. More than a thousand people have made donations as of Wednesday afternoon.
