Making the court aware of West Virginia University sophomore Ryan Diviney's suffering is the goal of a letter writing campaign started by his family's neighbor.
Susan Easler, 49, of Ashburn, Va., said she was looking for ways help the Diviney family when she thought of writing letters to the prosecuting attorney's office in Morgantown.
Tidbits about Ryan, his character and the happiness he brought to others is how Easler said she wants the prosecuting attorney, who will be representing Ryan in court, to know him.
"I wanted to do this to give the prosecuting attorney a snapshot of who Ryan is, because right now he is unable to speak for himself," Easler said. "For my letter, I'm writing about how the pain has affected not only his family but the community as a whole."
Ryan remains in a coma at his Ashburn home as a result of being attacked outside the Willey Street Dairy Mart Nov. 7 at 3:10 a.m.
Jonathan May, 18, and Austin Vantrease, 18, of Newark Del., were charged with malicious assault in connection with the beating.
According to police reports, May knocked Ryan to the ground while Vantrease began kicking him in the head – Ryan was unresponsive when paramedics
arrived on the scene.
A March 16 trial date has been set for the two Delaware teens.
Easler said she has responded to numerous requests on Facebook asking about more information on how to reach the prosecuting attorney after she started the campaign.
Though she is not telling people what to write, Easler said many have shared stories written about Ryan's life and the pain caused by the attackers in their letters.
Once such letter, written by Sam Masters Durham, 50, of Roanoke, Va., aims to depict the horrific night of Nov. 7 for the prosecuting attorney.
"No apologies have been offered. I have no idea if the two accused will blame alcohol, stupidity, an exchange of words or something else for their actions," Durham said in her letter. "What kind of animal can repeatedly kick a defenseless man on the ground over and over until he is unconscious, leave and not call for help?"
The prosecuting attorney needs to know Ryan's future has no guarantees and his family has to live the possibility of him laying in a coma for the next 30 years, Durham said.
Ryan's father Ken Diviney said he is glad attention is being brought to the case but chooses to remain neutral because he does not want to influence the outcome of the trial.
Though it is hard for her to talk about the upcoming trial, Ryan's mother, Sue Diviney hopes the letters will influence the prosecuting attorney to get his attackers the maximum jail sentence.
"They inflicted so much pain on him and damage to the school," Sue said. "They need to pay for what they've done, and hopefully this is not one of the cases where they go easy on them."
Since being released from the Shepherd Center for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Brain Injury Rehabilitation in Atlanta to continue treatment from home, Ryan has been showing signs of recovering, Sue said.
At press time, Ryan has been six days without a "storming episode," or instances where his brain misfires causing his body to go into shock.
It's a relief for a mother not see her son in excruciating pain, she said.
is a member of the 
17 comments
We miss you Ryan!!