By donating his organs, his mother said, she could ensure that Jaseem’s killers would not get the last word. His story would not end with his murder.
by Ellie Rushing
Jaseem Thomas lay still in a hospital bed, his eyes closed. White gauze encircled his head, framing his young face. The 16-year-old could no longer breathe on his own; a ventilator was keeping him alive.
Thomas arrived at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center last week in grave condition after being shot six times — including twice in the head — as he was on his way to catch a trolley near his home in Southwest Philadelphia.
His mother rushed to his side at the hospital, where the doctors told her the damage to his brain was severe. If her son ever woke up, she said they told her, he would never be the same.
Shanae Thomas went home that night, and in her dreams, she said, her son came to her.
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