Healing and hope: Sha Reh moves forward as lone survivor of family tragedy

OGDEN — Thousands of Utah seniors over the coming weeks will graduate from Utah high schools. Few, if any, have experienced the challenges of a senior from Granger High.

On Dec.17, Sha Reh survived a family shooting that killed the rest of his family. He was shot and found two days later in the garage.

"I just want to keep moving forward with my life," Reh said.

Recovering and grieving in the hospital, he had to decide how he was going to live his life. That resolve to move forward has been put to the test.

The shooting left him with what doctors call "new vision loss." They don't know whether he will see anything more than shadows.

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Reh doesn't want to talk about the events of the night his family was killed, but he will talk about the skills he's learning so he can continue to progress.

The first step was accepting his new reality and transferring to the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, just as he was preparing to graduate from Granger High. At his new school, he will learn how to read and type in Braille.

He uses a cane and the ground texture underneath his feet to help guide him through the school.

"The first thing we said was that we are going to help you walk at graduation. The second thing we said was it's OK to have bad days, hard times," said Principal Robbin Clark, at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

Reh said graduating with the Granger High class is very important to him.

"Just to be able to relive memories with my old classmates, teachers and principal, and move on from the life, I think it will be, it would just be nice," he said.

Reh knows what it's like to struggle. He adapted to a new life in America as a refugee from Myanmar and had to learn a new language. So relearning these new skills of reading and living on his own will be another test of his resolve.

He will attend the University of Utah in January and major in pre-law. His choice is inspired by his younger brother.

"My brother had a specific learning disability, and he often had troubles at school. So, I wanted to be the inspiration to my siblings," Reh said.

He recently learned the U. awarded him a Presidential Scholarship to pay for all his college expenses.

"I strive to do good things in this world, and this only reinforces that. I am very grateful and blessed to have this opportunity to be happy," Reh said.

His faith is a big part of his hope. He and his family were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nearly a decade ago.

"Religion is a big part of why I'm always so positive. It gets me thinking that I will be able to see my family again in the afterlife," he said.

But family friends said he still reconciles conflicting emotions.

"At first, it was really hard for him, but he's been able to understand that God allows people to make choices, and sometimes those choices are good and sometimes they're really bad," said Bridget Harding, a longtime family friend.

Harding, her friend Michelle Schmidt and their families have helped Reh's family assimilate into life in Utah. They have remained friends ever since.

They were by his bedside after the tragedy and delivered the news of what had happened to Reh and his family. Reh recently brought them flowers on Mother's Day.

That is another sign he's moving forward. Reh's family doesn't celebrate holidays in his culture, so he is learning to recognize others and their roles in his life.

Reh lives at school during the week. On the weekends, he is with his uncle and aunt.

His cousin has been a loyal companion. They are just a few of the blessings for Reh in the aftermath of such a tragedy.

"He's been able to experience so many people that have been perfectly placed on his path to really help support him to be able to adapt to his new vision loss and what life is like without all those immediate family members," Harding said.

Educators, doctors, religious leaders and even generous strangers have rallied to help Reh understand that he's not moving forward alone.

On Mother's Day, he bravely tested out the zipline in Harding's backyard. He's trying new things, trusting and learning to find joy.

"He reminds us that when life changes, it doesn't end your life," Clark said.

Reh will graduate with his class in late May at the Maverick Center and plans to practice ahead of time, so he can do it on his own. That will be the first hurdle for what friends call a "living, walking miracle.

"I think my one major goal is to be happy and to make others happy," Reh said.

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