Tragedy to Triumph, My road to Morehouse College

Hello, I am Rikye Torres, a proud graduate of Dr. Henry A. Wise High School's Class of 2019. Please read my personal story below, which details how I’ve gone from tragedy to triumph over the past 18 months in my journey to attend Morehouse College in the fall of 2020. In January 2019, midway through my high school senior year, I was involved in a near death car accident. The crash was so bad that I had to be flown from the scene of the accident to Baltimore Shock Trauma, where my heart stopped beating several times. In fact, my heart was taken out of my chest, massaged until it restarted and then replaced. I underwent several lifesaving and reconstructive surgeries and had to use a colostomy bag for eight months. I underwent nearly a year of rehabilitation and spent months learning how to walk again. While hospitalized and confined to a wheelchair for the entire second half of my High School Senior year, I was blessed to receive two college acceptances; one from Clark Atlanta University and the other, Morehouse College. I chose Morehouse! When I visited Morehouse’s campus in May of 2019, having to be pushed in my wheelchair by my parents, I knew immediately that Morehouse was where I wanted to pursue my higher education. The Campus’ vibe overwhelmed me with a spirit of pride, brotherhood and culture. However, despite aspirations to begin my matriculation at Morehouse in the fall of 2019, the near tragic accident of my high school senior year would continue to plague me as my attending physicians recommended against me going away to college at the time given the status of my physical rehabilitation. Once I came to terms with this setback, I continued to work towards full recovery of my physical abilities and received a deferment of my enrollment in Morehouse until the fall of 2020. While the Lord has showed me grace and favor during this near two year battle to rebuild my life post my vehicular accident, my family and I are now confronting new challenges to my efforts to enroll at Morehouse. These challenges, which are financial in nature, largely stem from the extensive and costly medical care and subsequent physical rehabilitation I received at Baltimore Shock Trauma Hospital after my accident. While I am truly grateful for the work of hospital personnel in my case, I recognize that the medical related debt that my family and I have accumulated since the winter of 2019 now hinders our ability to cover my associated cost for registering at Morehouse for the upcoming semester. To that end, I am making a heartfelt appeal to my family, friends, supporters, public officials, and Morehouse alumnus for guidance on financial aid opportunities, scholarships, grants, donations, etc. that will help bring me within reach of my goals of enrolling and ultimately graduating from Morehouse College. I thank you for joining me on this journey and know that I am committed to overcoming this most recent hurdle to my educational pursuit just as I successfully overcame the physical and medical ailments resulting from my near tragic accident .