Student raises money to aid family in Australia

Christopher Lane woke up one morning and decided to go for a jog, just three days after his return from a summer spent in his home country of Australia with his girlfriend of four years. Lacing up his shoes, he took off down the road around mid afternoon on Aug. 16.

Ahead of him was a big bright future. He would graduate in May with a business degree, he was the starting catcher and the assumed captain of the baseball team at East Central University in Oklahoma and he had aspirations to travel the world.

In the midst of his jog, a single .22 bullet suddenly penetrated his back, ripping through his lungs and destroying his aorta and pulmonary arteries. Lane stumbled across the road and finally collapsed in a small patch of grass, bleeding as he approached Twilight Beach Road.

Just about an hour and a half after Lane took off from his girlfriend's house, he was pronounced dead due to injuries inflicted by three "bored" teenagers in a drive by shooting.

A memorial held for Christopher Lane. About 40 of Lane's teammates showed up for support. Submitted photo

The death of Lane has shocked and outraged people all across the nation. While many people still are suffering from the loss of a loved one, friend and teammate, some of Southeast Missouri State University's transfer baseball players are working to honor Lane and the legacy he left behind in his 22 years of life.

Junior Tyler Iago played with Lane for two seasons at East Central. Iago had an elbow injury his first year at East Central and was forced to sit out. He said that Lane also had an injury the year before and had to sit out his first year.

"He helped me through that," Iago said. "Going through rehab, you know, keeping me motivated that everything gets better because he was healthy by the time I got there."

When asked what Lane was like, Iago immediately said "funny" with a smile on his face. He said he always made jokes about how Australia was better than America. Iago also described Lane as a strong leader on and off the field, and it was assumed that Lane was going to be named the captain for the upcoming season.

Teammates Tyler Iago and Christopher Lane bonded on and off the field. Submitted photo

"If anyone was going to pick one [captain], it would have been him," Iago said.

When Iago heard the news of his teammate's death just two days before he made the move to Cape Girardeau, he and his teammate Marshall Veal decided to raise money to pay for Lane's funeral arrangements.

Since Lane was from Australia, the two estimated the cost of shipping his body and the price of the funeral service. They, along with Lane's girlfriend, Sarah Harper, made arrangements with his family and set a goal to raise around $15,000. The two men set up an account on GoFundMe.com in order for people around the world to make donations.

The goal of $15,000 was passed in just a little less than 14 hours. By the end of day two, the donation account raised almost $100,000.

The account now has more than $190,000. Iago explained that the website and banking company will take a total of 6 percent from the account, which will leave the account with roughly $180,000.

Lane's parents will make the decision as to where to disperse the money, though Iago believes some of it will go to East Central, baseball clubs back in Australia and local organizations in Duncan, Okla., where Lane spent his four years in America.

"It's probably going to be all scholarships or baseball related somehow," Iago said. "To help people chase the dream that he didn't finish."

Ryan Lenaburg, who played with Lane at Redlands Community College, also transferred to Southeast this year.

"In Australia, there aren't any Little League baseball fields," Lenaburg said.

He said that in Australia, the citizens are starting a petition to build a field in Lane's honor. He believes that 30,000 people already have signed the form.

"He was the type of person that deserved something like that," Iago said.