Posted at: 06/03/2009 10:40 PM
Updated at: 06/04/2009 11:03 AM
By: Eric Kahnert, Eyewitness News 4; Matthew Kappus, KOB.com

   Print Story

Victim's story inspires outpouring of help

Jacob gets an appreciative hug from the man who he donated his piggy bank to, Michael Baca

After Eyewitness News 4 featured a cancer survivor's story of need following a violent attack on him, viewers, including a 9-year-old boy, were compelled to help.

Joseph Martinez began to cry after watching the story about Michael Baca—a two-time cancer survivor who was brutally assaulted in Moriarty and now can't afford his prescriptions.

Joseph decided to donate everything in his piggy bank to help Michael out.

"Joseph was on the sofa--we watch the news together--he just started crying. He was really feeling Michael's pain," said Joseph's father, Jacob Martinez.

Baca was near death after he was stabbed with screwdrivers and beaten with baseball bats by a group of five males.

"I was laying on the floor, no one knew if I was alive or dead," Baca said.

Despite the ordeal, Baca says he forgives his attackers and wants to use his energy to recover, not to hate them.

That outlook on life inspired an outpouring of support for Baca, including from 9-year-old Joseph.

On Wednesday, the Martinez family went to Moriarty to meet with Baca. Joseph donated all $12 in his piggy bank to him.

"Hi, my name is Joseph and I'm here to donate some money," the boy told Baca.

Joseph told Michael he felt bad about the attack and even worse Michael couldn't afford to buy prescriptions. 

A tearful Baca said Joseph brought him much joy.

"Thank you so much Joseph. You're such an awesome young man, and you have a great heart," he said. "We need a lot more people like you in this world."

Baca is a survivor of Leukemia and testicular cancer. With donations like Joseph's, he says he is inspired to overcome his latest setback, which leaves him confined to a wheelchair.

One of many e-mails we received was from a woman in northern New Mexico who survived breast cancer, a brain tumor, has lost an eye and the use of one of her arms. Despite the fact that she's now fighting bone cancer, she plans on donating $20 to Baca.

A bank fund has been set up under Michael Baca's name at Rio Grande Credit Union in Albuquerque or any First Community Bank branch in New Mexico.