Support Valerij Alyohin's funeral costs and honor a true hero.

A young former hockey star, living in Texas, passed away from severe burns he sustained in a raging fire in his apt. complex, rescuing all his neighbors at the expense of his own life.

Valerij's mother is unable to cover the necessary expenses for funeral and we are asking the community to pull together to pray and help.

Mar 28 Update: We have been notified by Nick Buick, the Executive Director of RACS, the 501c3 organization recipient of this fundraiser of the following:

In addition to helping with funeral expenses (it is the family's wish to fly the remains to Russia, if it is possible), with some of the funds you contribute here, RACS will also organize and sponsor travel for Valerij's mother from her home in Orange County CA to San Francisco on 7 April at which time she will be provided some honors for Valerij's heroism.

From http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/bay_area/news/article_585adf7f-18bd-5bd8-b066-c20a074809dd.html :

A man who rushed to alert his neighbors to danger despite being on fire himself has died from his injuries, a local business owner reports.

Valerij Alyohin, 34, was a resident of the Emerald Shores Apartments in El Lago, which caught fire on Saturday, Feb. 26.

With his clothes on fire, Alyohin rushed from one apartment to the next, helping his neighbors escape the flames, which destroyed 36 apartment units.

He was the only person injured in the fire, with burns covering 80 percent of his body.

Alyohin died from his injuries at about 5 p.m. Sunday, said Rusty Cates, owner of Coffee Oasis on NASA Road 1.

If it wasn’t for Alyohin, Chris Williams told The Citizen recently that he might not have made it out of his apartment in time. He and his girlfriend were woken up by Alyohin, who banged on everyone’s door after the fire started in another neighbor’s apartment.

“He woke us up at the last second,” Williams said. Williams had only time to get his girlfriend and two of their three cats, before they jumped out of the window on the second floor. “He saved me and my girlfriend’s life.”