A heartbreaking video is going viral showing the moment a teenage girl was wheeled past fellow high school students and members of her local community on her way into surgery to become an organ donor.
18-year-old Kimber Mills was one of four victims in a shooting at a party close to a highway near Palmerdale, Alabama, on Saturday, October 18.
Tragically, the cheerleader was taken off of life support on Tuesday before being given an honor walk through University of Alabama Hospital.
A senior at Cleveland High School in Blount County, Alabama, Mills balanced her life as a cheerleader with running track, radiating energy and school spirit. She had planned on attending the University of Alabama next year, the first step on her journey towards becoming a nurse.
The teen was one of four people shot in an incident on Saturday. In addition to Mills, an 18-year-old man, a 21-year-old man, and a 20-year-old woman were also struck by gunfire. According to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, 27-year-old Steven Tyler Whitehead arrived at around 12:24 a.m., and after a verbal and physical altercation, fired multiple shots.
Whitehead has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and is being held on a $180,000 bond.
“Kimber was caught in the crossfire,” her sister, Ashley Mills, told AL.com, adding that the shooter was unknown to the group and had reportedly approached one of Kimber’s friends, sparking the fight that ended in tragedy.
Speaking to WRBC, Ashley said: “He was trying to hit on a girl there and give her things that she didn’t want.”
Mills was rushed to hospital, but her family were told that her injuries were too severe to survive. They then took the selfless decision to honor her wish to become an organ donor.
“She has too much trauma to her brain,” Ashley said. “She is breathing on her own with an assisted breathing machine… We do have her on a DNR because we don’t want to hurt her anymore trying to bring her back. We’ve already got it set up for her to be an organ donor because that’s what she wanted.”
Footage of Mills’ ‘last walk’ has since been published online, showing students and members of the local community lining the hospital hallways to pay their final respects.
Ashley told the Daily Mail that her sister’s heart had been given to a seven-year-old boy in Ohio, while her lungs would be going to a woman in New York.
Silas McCay, 21, another victim who was shot at the party, managed to walk behind Kimber as she was wheeled towards surgery, according to his brother Shane.
Shane revealed that Silas was ‘shot ten times’, though he is miraculously out of bed and now able to walk. Another shooting victim remains in hospital.
Speaking to CBS, Shane described Mills’ journey to the operating theater as ’emotional’, adding: “As soon as she turned that corner, the whole hallway was crying. You can tell she was really loved by the whole community.”
Rest in peace, Kimber Mills.
