2 BYU students working to aid Romanian boy

There are two things a house fire couldn't take away from 9-year-old

Marius Vasile Dasianu — his beautiful eyes and his charming temperament.

The young Romanian boy awoke one night last November to find his home

and himself engulfed in flames. Marius mustered strength to fight

through the searing pain and escape through a window, but his parents

didn't make it out of the house.

In one night, the blaze took Marius' parents and home and left him with

burns over 75 percent of his body. Doctors later had to amputate his

fingers because of the extensive damage.

For all of this, Marius still possessed distinct features: his eyes,

his deep ocean blue eyes, and his kind temperament. And it was these

two characteristics that prompted Brigham Young University students

Ashley Ludlow and Jessica Free to find a way to help the boy, who used

to resemble Dennis the Menace — minus the back-pocket slingshot — when

they met him in St. Maria's Children's Hospital in Iasi, Romania.

Now, with the help of friends and family, Ludlow, who is from San

Diego, Calif., and Free, of Mesa, Ariz., are organizing a charity

auction in Spanish Fork to bring Marius to the United States for

reconstructive surgery. The two have secured funding for the boy's

airfare and medical bills. But they still need help raising funds to

cover other expenses such as translator fees, travel costs and housing.

Items from local restaurants, movie theaters, retail shops and tanning

salons will be auctioned Saturday night to cover those expenses.