Fundraising goal met to bring Sgt. Woo to Harborview

By Diane Hettrick

Thanks to the very popular Ron and Don Radio Show on KIRO 97.3, and to donors in Shoreline who responded to our article and other social media references, over $120,000 has been raised to medically transport Shoreline police Sgt. Woo from Hawaii to Harborview for specialized trauma care and to help cover his expenses.

Donations are continuing to come in. Many people in the Shoreline community report positive contacts with Sgt. Woo, who seems to have been universally liked.

According to MyNorthwest.com he was airlifted out of Hawaii's Maui Memorial Hospital Thursday and expected to arrive at Boeing Field around midnight.

Quoting a Shoreline Fire paramedic who knew Woo in Federal Way, the article said that he would be transported on a Lear jet, "On that jet he’s going to have physicals, EMT’s, paramedics — everyone that needs to be there to keep him alive all the way to Boeing Field."

The Shoreline Medic One unit volunteered to pick him up from the airport and transport him to Harborview.

Reports say that he hit his head in a surfing accident, with a resulting spinal cord injury. His son pulled him from the water and bystanders applied CPR. His lungs were full of sand and sea water, and he suffered a cardiac arrest during the CPR. He was in a coma for three days.

He currently has no movement below the neck. One report said that he was able to move his toes, but that is unsubstantiated.

Harborview is a major trauma center as well as having rehabilitation clinics for spinal cord injuries.

Donations are still being collected at the GoFundMe site, for his continuing medical expenses not covered by insurance.