Friendship is essential to the soul. Two weeks after being robbed at gunpoint in South Florida during spring break, Texas A&M University - Commerce linebackers Jay Bias, of Prosper, and Xavier Morris made their first appearance with their teammates.
Morris and Bias were with two teammates, and Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers -- Pierre Leonard and Demondre Lauderdale -- on a spring break trip in Miami. Hungry for a late-night snack, Morris and Bias were robbed and shot early in the morning of March 16. Once help arrived, Morris made an essential, and heroic, decision.
He told paramedics to take Bias to the hospital first.
Morris was shot in the face, while Bias was struck in the chest.
Bias was shot four times and had to be resuscitated, according to Texas A&M - Commerce head football coach David Bailiff.
Leonard was on the boat the four teammates were staying on, and didn't find out Morris and Bias were in the ICU until the next morning when Bias' mother called him. Leonard became the point man on the scene in South Florida, helping the families and Texas A&M - Commerce athletic staff stay informed. He got help from the Omega Psi Phi members to provide food, rides and comfort. The hardest part for him was having to fly home without his brothers.
All four teammates and fraternity brothers are now back home in Commerce.
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The university started a GoFundMe page to help the families with medical expenses.
