• :
  • Member Center
  • :
  • Make This Your Home Page
  • :
  • Special Offers
kvue.com Web  

Top Stories

Comments | Recommended

Classmates raise money for Stony Point student burned in fire

05:45 PM CST on Tuesday, December 16, 2008

By JIM BERGAMO
KVUE News

Video

KVUE's Jim Bergamo reports

> More Local Video

A mother and her two sons remained at Brooke Army Medical Center Tuesday for burns they received during an apartment fire in Round Rock Monday.

KVUE News has learned the older son, Justin, wasn't burned as severely as his mother, Misty Bakos, and his brother, Eric Bakos, and that Eric may have to remain at Brooke Army Medical Center for at least the next four months.

Fire ripped through the Foxfire Apartments in Round Rock early Monday morning. Eric Bakos, 17, along with his mother and brother were burned severely and had to be taken to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

A day later at Stony Point where Eric attends school, his teachers and classmates were already in help mode.

"I think I've probably gotten $600 to $700 that I got in about 15 minutes time," said Vanessa Conner, Stony Point teacher and faculty representative for the school's Pay It Forward club. "Everyone says he's just the neatest kid and everyone likes him, so I didn't have to hard sell, kids were pulling money out of their pockets, some kids were giving 20 dollars."

Marco Baeza is a friend of Eric's and the president of the Pay it Forward club who sees the irony in a club -- designed to help virtual strangers -- now raising money for a friend.

"I never thought it would be this like this, one of my friends actually going through this and I never thought it would be close to me where I actually would have to do something about it," Baeza said.

Jesus Garza is one of Eric's best friends.

"When I heard it I was devastated because I've known him for so long, I've known him since 6th grade and it was heartbreaking to hear something that tragic would happen to him," Garza said.

Garza played on Stony Point's varsity football team that made it to the state semi-finals. Eric Bakos was a safety on the undefeated JV team. Coach Craig Chessher says some of Eric's teammates had not yet heard about the fire, but now they all know.

"I can't imagine what he's going through, but I know he's the type of kid that will make sure he endures it even though I know he's going to have some tough times along the way," Chessher said.

Both the football booster club and the pay it forward club at Stony Point are raising money for Eric, his mother and brother.

For more information you can go to: http://www.sptigerfootball.org. Or you can contact the following bank for account information for Eric Bakos Benefit:

Chase Bank

1111 N. IH-35

Round Rock, TX 78664

Account # 809228562

Benefit Eric Bakos

Advertisement

News, Photos & More

KVUE on your Desktop: Get traffic, radar and up-to-the-minute headlines on your desktop.

Keep Up: Have KVUE headlines delivered to your RSS reader.

Upload Photos: Send in your Austin area photos, pics of your favorite sports teams or even your pets.

Find out what's happening: Check our Events calendar to find events near you.

Popular Stories