This story is part of The Daily Herald’s annual look at promising local high school graduates.
LAKEWOOD — Michael Mitchell is the friendly face in the hallway.
He isn’t at the top of his senior class or tearing up the field as a star athlete, but he gets along with just about everybody. At Lakewood High School, he helped out with the football team, volunteered at the Boys &Girls Club and hung out with friends as much as possible.
Mitchell is among the more than 7,000 seniors receiving diplomas this month from Snohomish County high schools. He could be easy to overlook in the sea of caps and gowns.
Like each graduate, Mitchell has his own story. His tale is one of gratitude for life and a mother’s love. He’s a reminder that crossing the stage as an average student — no grandiose dreams, Ivy League aspirations or five-year plan — can be a remarkable journey.
His kind demeanor and easy smile don’t hint at the struggle to make it to his commencement. He has the scars to show for it.
The day after his 17th birthday, Mitchell choked on an onion ring and it shredded his esophagus. He bled into his lungs and stomach. He has eight scars on his back, stomach and sides, including several long white incisions where the blood was drained to keep him from suffocating. Doctors later told him he nearly died.
He was in the hospital for three weeks and out of school for more than two months. It would have been easy to fall behind on credits for some of his junior classes and slip off track toward graduating on time.
His mom, Tara Feingold, pushed him forward. She was at his bedside through the frustrating times, the haze of muscle relaxers and pain pills that trapped him at home until the ache finally faded. They watched “The Walking Dead” together to pass the long hours. She helped him catch up on homework when he was ready to return to school.
Mitchell couldn’t have done it without his mom. She wouldn’t let him give up, even as she endured her own medical ordeal.
Feingold died on her 45th birthday. Her three-year battle with ovarian cancer ended Sept. 18, near the start of her son’s senior year at Lakewood High School.
She was put into a medically induced coma. Mitchell was by her side.
“I knew she wouldn’t talk back but I knew she could hear me,” he said. “It was probably the most difficult time of my life.”
His friends stood by him and his family rallied to support each other. He moved out of his grandparents’ house, unable to go back to the place where his mom died, and moved in with his dad and older sister in Stanwood. He took online classes along with his courses at Lakewood High School to keep up.
“I kept on going to school,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t stop.”
He’s not sure yet what he wants to do after high school. He plans to go to college and has thought about working at Boeing, like most of his family, or going into law enforcement. For his senior project, he did a ride-along with a police officer in Marysville.
For now, Mitchell plans to save up for a new car so he can get to and from college when he enrolls. His other big goal is to stay in touch with his friends. They got him through the tough times.
Mitchell graduated on Friday evening, celebrating with about 150 of his classmates.
He worked hard to get a diploma from the same high school his mom graduated from 28 years ago.
He figures she would be proud of him.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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