Mount Tahoma’s Hines lost his mom suddenly last month. He’s pushing forward
Keshawn Hines didn’t think he played his best football game against Lakes on Oct. 31. But his mom, as always, was proud. And as always, she let him know.
“She was telling me how good I did,” Hines said during Wednesday night’s practice at Mount Tahoma High School.
How he wishes he could hear those words of encouragement again. That was the last football game she’d watch her son play. Hines’ mom, Leahmarii Rush, died in her Tacoma home in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 from an epileptic seizure.
Hines and his younger sister, Heaven, found her unresponsive in the bathroom around 7 a.m. and called 911. She wasn’t breathing. It was too late.
“It was devastating,” Hines said. “She’s had seizures before when she’s by herself and woke up fine. I don’t know why this one was any different. It was just out of the blue, for real.”
Hines said his mom, who usually went by ‘Leah,’ had been living with epilepsy for the past few years. The family managed the condition as well as they could.
Mount Tahoma head coach Keith Terry was one of the first to reach out to Hines when he heard the news.
“Even now, while he’s trying to process those things, just reaching out to him daily and just checking in on him and his family,” Terry said.
And the team has rallied around Hines. Terry said he sees the team’s love through small actions: a check-in text, players keeping tabs on Hines, walking with him after practice.
“Everybody loves Keshawn,” Terry said. “They’ve just rallied around him.”
A few players attended his mom’s funeral.
“I’ve got good support,” Hines said. “The team is good support, my coaches, my family.”
The funeral was on Nov. 22. Later that day, Mount Tahoma played in a Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal game against Tacoma rival Lincoln High School. Hines decided to play.
“It was difficult,” he said. “I was like, ‘Damn, my mom is supposed to be here.’ She’s supposed to be at this game.”
Hines scored a touchdown that night, a four-yard rush to give the T-Birds the lead in the second quarter.
“I was thinking about her,” Hines said. “I was thinking about her the whole game, wishing she was in the stands, watching.”
Terry realized it meant more than most touchdowns.
“You know that moment’s special,” he said. “You want to let him know that she’s looking down on him and that she’s here and that we’re here supporting him, as well.”
Hines said he was close with his mom, who had just started a new job as a caretaker for elderly people before her passing. She always had jokes.
“She was funny,” Hines said, a wide smile stretching across his face. “Loving, caring, responsible. She really made sure we was good, me and my siblings. … She was a mom first.”
Mount Tahoma is in the state championship game for the first time since 1980. The T-Birds face the O’Dea Fighting Irish on Friday night at Husky Stadium.
