An ill-fated night in Portland, Ore., sent 26-year-old English student Sam Whitehorn to the intensive care unit when a belligerent Seattle Seahawks fan brutally assaulted him for his Green Bay Packers beanie in a local bar.
Whitehorn has been recovering well, but that wasn’t good enough for the Packers. They decided to reach out by sending him a football signed by their star players and released a statment that read, "We have been in touch with Sam's family and have heard from many of their concerned friends, and send the organization's best wishes for a quick and full recovery.”
Whitehorn’s mother, Kelly, started a GoFundMe page to help with medical costs and, according to an update posted on the account, Whitehorn is well enough to start his recovery as an outpatient.
“He has lots of therapy, another surgery, lots of SALT, fluid restrictions, and meds still ahead of him ... But he can do it all from the comfort of his beautiful home with Bridget (Whitehorn’s girlfriend).”
The page has raised over three times it’s original goal of $15k. It reached $53,587 over 15 days and the Whitehorns couldn’t be more grateful for the generosity that led to Whitehorn’s release.
“Thank you for making that possible. You all have given us such a gift. It's beyond words. I'm forever grateful.”
(WARNING: Graphic image of the head injury below)
According to KPTV, Whitehorn was approached and berated by a group for his Packers gear. One of the men punched Whitehorn once or twice, causing him to fall and hit his head.
“People approached him and were giving him grief about it because the Packers just lost,” said Kelly Whitehorn. “He was like ‘go away’ and they wouldn’t leave. They basically assaulted him for no reason.”
Whitehorn suffered a traumatic brain injury, and doctors were forced to remove part of his skull during emergency surgery. When he finally awoke, Whitehorn couldn’t even remember why he was in the hospital or had staples in his head.
The search for the perpetrator is still ongoing.
Here's KPTV’s original report: