Boise man attending twin brother’s graduation seriously injured on personal watercraft | Opinion
The Naval Academy is a tight-knit family, and I was saddened to hear that the twin brother of a graduating midshipman from Boise was seriously injured in a personal watercraft accident during commissioning week.
Commissioning week at the academy is a special time for family members of graduating midshipmen. It includes tours, concerts, awards ceremonies and an air show with the Blue Angels, and culminates in the graduation ceremony at which about 1,000 midshipmen graduate from the academy and enter military service in the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. My own son will be graduating next year from the academy, and we’ve been planning for and anticipating his commissioning week for at least the past year.
For the Rahimi family of Boise, the week’s events ended in disaster.
Jason Rahimi, 22, of Boise, was in Annapolis, Maryland, with his family to celebrate the graduation of his twin brother, Mason Rahimi, from the Naval Academy. Jason was seriously injured while he was riding a personal watercraft May 27, the day after graduation, on the South River near the academy.
He was airlifted to a trauma center in Baltimore, where he has undergone multiple surgeries, according to a post by Virginia Burkes-Pumpelly, who started a GoFundMe fundraiser for the family. Rahimi had leg, head and arm injuries.
Jason, who recently graduated from Boise State University, is working in the IT department for the city of Boise.
Burkes-Pumpelly on Monday wrote that Jason has been able to open his eyes, give small hand squeezes and make slight nods to communicate.
The Rahimi family has been at the trauma center around the clock since the accident, she wrote.
“I truly believe the love and support from all his family, friends, sponsor family, neighbors, the Annapolis community, the Idaho community, parents of graduates and special relationships of each mentioned above has been powerful, uplifting but most of all has given HOPE!” Burkes-Pumpelly wrote.
The GoFundMe fundraising campaign already had surpassed the $30,000 goal by Tuesday.
We know Mason through the academy. Last year, he participated in a “plebe call” for incoming Idaho freshmen to give them advice and tell them what to expect. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for his family right now and to have this happen just as Mason is beginning his Navy career. We let our Idaho Naval Academy family know about the accident, and they have risen to the occasion.
Please send your good thoughts and prayers to the Rahimi family.
