Members of the Edmonds-Woodway High School pep band gathered in the school courtyard after last Friday night’s Sept. 23 football game to enjoy some social time together, and also to show support for fellow band member Anthony Woo, whose father was seriously injured in Hawaii last summer.

Anthony’s father Wing Woo, a 32-year veteran sergeant with the King County Sheriff’s Department, continues to recover after being evacuated from Maui to Seattle following a body surfing accident.

Friday night’s pep band event, which included a movie and popcorn, was aimed both at providing a fun time for the 200 band members but also to continue raising awareness about Sgt. Woo’s medical costs, said Lynne Behrendt, who teaches at Edmonds-Woodway and is a parent of two E-W students.

Money is being raised through this GoFundMe site, which also provides regular updates on Woo’s progress.

Woo, who works out of the sheriff’s department Shoreline office, is currently in a wheelchair and undergoing therapy to get mobility back following a spinal injury. His family faces ongoing challenges to obtain insurance coverage for his ongoing needs, from the rehab facility where he is currently receiving care to the basic equipment he will need once he returns to his Hickman Park home.

Last Friday night, Anthony Woo — a freshman in the pep band — spoke to his fellow band members before the movie and thanked them for their support, Behrendt said.

Wing Woo has lived in the area all his life, and has deep roots in the community. A graduate of Des Moines’ Mount Rainier High School, he served both as a Burien City Councilmember and Mayor of Burien before moving to Edmonds.

According to the latest GoFundMe update:

Thanks to many wonderful people donating their time, the ramps are in place, the doors have been widened and now they want to bring him home. However, the reality is that Wing needs to be at a facility for continued rehabilitation to prepare him of his new life at home. Insurance is refusing to pay and the Wings are forced to pay out of pocket for the current facility. Unfortunately, that is just one of many battles with the insurance company.

Wing has dedicated over three decades to his community and certainly has paid for insurance all along the way. Yet when a tragedy strikes and he needs to actually use the insurance he has paid for his entire adult life, it has failed him and his family! Unbelievable.

“Your love, prayers, support and generosity continue to lighten the burden of our most challenging journey,” Wing’s wife Jackie relayed in the GoFundMe message. “Thank you from The Woo Family.”