A family in need and deed

Not long ago, I called the Pike Place Market community a wonderful, yet dysfunctional family.

Forget I said that. Since Joe Robinson got hit by a car a month ago, the place has been more functional, and more a family, than ever.

Joe is a Ballard High School freshman, a runner, poet, musician and one of those kids who appreciates both Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson.

Before he was any of those things, though, Joe was a Market kid, the son of artist Tim Robinson, who has sold his paintings of Pike Place scenes for more than 20 years, and Andrea Okomski, a former clothing merchant who passed the state bar just last fall.

As a baby, Joe cruised his walker down the north arcade. He grew to stroll past the stalls like most of us walk to the kitchen. He manned his father's table as relaxed as one waits on hot water for tea.

One rushed morning on his way to school, it all stopped.

Joe was crossing North 85th Street near Linden Avenue North, trying to catch a bus, when he was struck by a car. The impact broke his left collarbone and both legs, and put him in a coma, where he still lingers.

The impact also turned his parents' lives upside down.

Neither has worked since the accident. Okomski took an indefinite leave from her new job with a Beacon Hill law firm; and Robinson shut down his stall to stay at the hospital.

"There really isn't anything else to do," Okomski told me. "Where else would you be?"

I agree: Nowhere is more important than Joe's room in the intensive-care unit at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center. But staying there, day and night, also means going broke.

The driver in the accident was not cited, because Joe was jaywalking. So there is no insurance money. Robinson and Okomski — who no longer are married, but unified in Joe — face taking over their son's care when he's sent home in a few weeks.

And that's where his Market family stepped in.

Joe will turn 15 tomorrow. The Market will celebrate his birthday Saturday with "Joe Robinson Day," an all-day fund-raiser that will include auctions and sales of original artwork, sports equipment, dinner certificates — even a 1980 Cadillac Eldorado. All proceeds will go to The Robinson Family Account at U.S. Bank.

The event is being run by Susan Sauls, a longtime Market jewelry maker.

"Two hours after we learned of the accident, we had raised $430," Sauls said. "This money will give them some breathing room so they can make good choices and not panic."

Said Okomski: "I am thrilled and touched with what people are doing. But I am not surprised. It's a living, breathing place that works in a way that a lot of places don't anymore."

There is no prognosis, but reason for hope. Joe's ventilator tube has been removed, his lungs are back to normal and his face is clear. His broken bones are healing well, and his muscle tone is improving.

"He's beautiful," Okomski said. "We just have to wait and see what Joe shows us every day."

In a one-day show of support, the Market family will give Joe's family that time.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

Happy Birthday, kid.