A month after 20-year-old Ryan Diviney was beaten within an inch of his life, friends back in his Ashburn-area community are rallying around the college student and his family.
Diviney, a student at West Virginia University, was outside of a Morgantown, WVa., convenience store Nov. 7 with two friends when they were confronted by a group of seven others, according to police. The larger group attacked Diviney and his friends. When it was over, Diviney was left on the ground, unconscious and with severe brain trauma. He's now in a coma and being treated at the Shepherd Center rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta. Diviney's family -- well-known in Ashburn, where his father runs the community sports center -- has relocated to be with him.
While his family keeps vigil over him in Georgia, Diviney's friends back at home have "teamed" up to help the family offset travel and medical costs. Friend Katie Mesmer created a "Team Diviney" T-shirt that's being sold at football games for Diviney's alma mater, Broad Run High School. The athletic Diviney excelled at football and baseball at Broad Run.
"'Team Diviney' just sounded like it would fit for the Rally for Ryan," Mesmer said about the shirts. Sales have raised thousands of dollars for the Divneys so far.
The Rally for Ryan she mentioned is a larger fundraising effort, taking place at a local restaurant on Dec. 17. Friends have also set up a website for Diviney to write updates about his condition, and to hopefully help catch those responsible for the beating.
"The more people that know about it, the more pressure they will be on someone's conscience to come forward at let the police know what happened," said friend Marco Chavez.
