Despite being legally blind, Brian can still play pool. Photo courtesy D. Banks Photography: http://dbanksphotography.smugmug.com

A fundraiser was held Friday night (April 29th) at Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s for Brian Aston, a local man who lost his vision at age 20 (previous coverage here; Brian’s own story here), and $3,540 was raised, bringing the total amount to just over $4,000.

Not bad considering that the stated target was $1,500!

Aston, a graduate of Highline High School, was diagnosed with a disease called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, which left him with no central vision, as well as limited peripheral vision with color abnormalities. In the past seven years there has been no hope of a cure or even research on this rare disease.

Money raised will go towards sending Brian to participate in a cutting-edge gene therapy study in Miami at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. “This study shows great progress towards the treatment and cure for not only LHON by also other mitochondrial disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s,” said Brian.

“This event went off so perfectly thanks to all of the people involved that includes every person who walked in that door!” said Brian on the event’s Facebook page. “I believe we smashed all sales records for Ernie’s ever by a LOT as well raised over DOUBLE the amount that has been on my FB FundRazor!!!!!!! The only thing that needs to be said is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!! I am not and will not stop you will hear more about this!! Oprah!! Where you At Girl?!!!!! LOL”

KING-TV also interviewed Brian on Friday, and aired the story on its 6:30 p.m. newscast – here’s the video:

“All the TVs in the bar were set to KING and even with all the people in the bar it was silent during the story,” said Julie Bradley, one of the event’s volunteers. “There were lots of wet eyes – Brian’s mom, Christy Aston included.”

Eric Nelson (pictured above with Brian), a man with LHON who has been blind for 20 years, heard Brian’s story on the news and came down to the bar to meet him. They talked for a while. Eric went blind at 33, is now 53, and will be in the same study at the University of Miami thanks to Brian spreading the word.

“Since there is no registry of any kind, we may find that more people have this disease and they are all suffering alone,” added Christy Aston, Brian’s Mom. “It has helped Brian emotionally just to talk to other people with his disease.”

Christy adds:

Brian’s website TheGeneticHouse.com has had a lot of traffic since the story aired and I am working on some other ideas on how to reach more people with this disease and band them together in hopes to raise more money for research and just to connect and share between them.

Julie Bradley adds:

First prize balloon raffle winner Joseph Timmons kept only $50 of the prize money and gave $100 of it back to Brian. The entire night went that way with a huge outpouring of love and support for Brian and his family.

I spoke with Brian, and he was just overwhelmed with all the support. He started Friday at 9am and didn’t look back. It finally hit him when he was going to bed at 4:30am what he had accomplished.

One of his goals is to not only get to Miami for the study but he wants to bring awareness of LHON to others.  He says that there are no societies (like Leukemia & Lymphoma Cancer Society) or colors (pink for breast cancer)  for LHON and he hopes to do for LHON what has been done for other cancers.  He has designed orange elastic bracelets to represent LHON and has a goal to start a society for it.

The bands Northwest Sons and HerseHedd took the stage at their scheduled respective times, 8pm & 10am and were a huge success. Good times were had by all, new friends were made and old ones were reacquainted.

The next fundraiser planned is for May 7th at 3pm at Good Time Ernies. It’s a Scotch Doubles 8 Ball Pool Tourney. Teams need to pre-register for the event by calling Good Time Ernies at 206-248-1670.  It is a $20.00 entry fee per team with 50% of the entry fee going to Brian Aston’s fundraising to send him to Miami to participate in the Gene Therapy Research at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and for additional medication costs that he incurs outside of the study.  The bar will add on $200 for the winning teams.  No team can be above 10 points in the APA rating system (so you couldn’t have 2 people with the rating of 7 each on a team), the tournament is double elimination and due to space and time constraints will be limited to the first 24 teams that register.

Here are some relevant links:

• Brian’s online fundraising page is here, and donations are still being accepted through Paypal.
• LHON Website Brian created is here.
• Brian’s 4/29 Fundraiser Event Page is here.
• KING-5′s news coverage of Brian’s story is here.
• Christy Aston-Rose, Brian’s mom’s Facebook page is here.
• Brian Aston Facebook page is here.
• Good Time Ernies Facebook page is here.
• Donny Banks photographer’s website is here.

“Thank you so much for covering Brian’s story.

It means a lot to him, his family, friends and supporters.”

- Julie

There will be a fundraiser at Goodtime Ernie’s starting at 6pm on Friday, April 29th for Brian Aston, a local man who lost his vision in 2004 at age 20.

Aston, a graduate of Highline High School, was diagnosed with Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, which left him with no central vision, as well as limited peripheral vision with color abnormalities. In the past seven years there has been no hope of a cure or even research on this rare disease.

However, according to the event poster, “Brian has found a cutting-edge gene therapy study in Miami at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. This study shows great progress towards the treatment and cure for not only LHON by also other mitochondrial disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s.”

Apparently, even though he’s legally blind, he’s still able to play pool.

“He’s plays 8-ball in the King County APA and is rated higher then me and is better then me and I don’t have any problems with my vision!” said friend Julie Bradley in an email. “He’s an upbeat guy. Very modest, he’s very embarrassed that everyone is doing this for him. I find him to be very inspirational. I couldn’t imagine losing most my site at 20-years old. I would have been devastated! Instead of being devastated he’s been living his life to the fullest and trying to encourage others to do so too.”

Brian needs to raise funds ($1,500, according to his fundraiser website) for travel and lodging expenses to be a part of this promising new clinical study. “This is a chance to not only help one man regains his sight but to change the lives of many people in the future, maybe even yours.”

There will be:

Brian Aston

• Live Music
• Spaghetti Dinner $5.00
• Domestic Pitchers $8.50 from 6pm – 12
• Silent Auction – Balloon Raffle
• Goodtime Shirts for Sale

Local Bands:

• 8pm: Northwest Sons
• 10pm: Horsehedd

Here’s more info on Brian’s disease from the National Institute of Health website:

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an inherited form of vision loss. Although this condition usually begins in a person’s teens or twenties, rare cases may appear in early childhood or later in adulthood. For unknown reasons, males are affected much more often than females.

Blurring and clouding of vision are usually the first symptoms of this disorder. These vision problems may begin in one eye or simultaneously in both eyes; if vision loss starts in one eye, the other eye is usually affected within several weeks or months. Over time, vision in both eyes worsens with a severe loss of sharpness (visual acuity) and color vision. This condition mainly affects central vision, which is needed for detailed tasks such as reading, driving, and recognizing faces. Vision loss results from the death of cells in the nerve that relays visual information from the eyes to the brain (the optic nerve). Although central vision gradually improves in a small percentage of cases, in most cases the vision loss is profound and permanent.

Here are the event details:

WHAT: Fundraiser for Brian Aston.

WHEN: Friday, April 29th, starting at 6pm.

WHERE: Goodtime Ernie’s, located behind Wizards Casino at 15747 Ambaum Blvd. SW; Burien, WA 98166-2524; (206) 248-1670.

INFO:

• Online Fundraiser Page
• Facebook Event Page
• Brian Aston’s Facebook Page

Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

It must’ve been the absolute toughest Christmas ever for the Ebinger family of Burien, as they had to celebrate without their son Mark, 25, who was fatally stabbed outside Goodtime Ernie’s Nov. 12th.

On Monday (Dec. 28th), the family held a press conference at the King County Sheriff’s office in downtown Seattle, where they offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) in the fatal stabbing.

Acting Public Information Officer Jim Laing spoke, along with Mark’s brother Peter (who was also stabbed), 24, as his distraught parents, sister and girlfriend sat nearby, solemnly holding back tears; here’s the raw MP3 of the conference:

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Peter recalled the attack, saying that a “few words were spoken to someone who was with us in the bar, and I told Mark we should leave…and as we left a group of guys came out the other door, a bottle was thrown at us, then they came at us with knives.”

“I was just scared, and was trying to get away,” Peter said. He also added that Mark was “kind of far away” from him in the parking lot at the time of the attack.

The Ebinger Family at Monday's press conference.

Peter also added that “someone else had words with one of the guys in the other group…” and he had no idea what was said, but is certain that the attacker(s) were in that group.

Once outside, “one guy came up in my face and tried to take a swing at me and another guy hit me from behind,” Peter continued. “I got stabbed probably six or seven times in the back…”

Peter said he’s “not planning on going back” to Goodtime Ernie’s anytime soon, “and no one I know is going back…”

Despite numerous rumors, there is no definite word on whether the attackers are part of a gang.

Mark Ebinger's brother Peter was also stabbed, but survived.

“We’re all very upset and angry, and well, you can imagine…”

Mark worked at a printing press and mostly did manual labor.

Regarding Mark’s death, Peter said: “It happened real fast and he didn’t feel much pain…”

The investigation is still ongoing.

“We know that someone out there knows something, saw something, or has heard something,” said Jim Laing. “…and that information might seem insignificant to them but it could be the information that cracks this case and we’re appealing to anyone who has any information to come forward.”

Laing continued: “No homicide case is ever closed until it’s closed, and this will remain open until it’s solved.”

If anyone has any information on this case, they should call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-274-6313.

$4,000 of the reward money comes from the Ebinger family, and $1,000 from Crimestoppers.

Here’s a video report on this case from KING-TV:

Read our previous coverage of this tragic incident here.

Mark Ebinger was just 25 when he was killed outside Goodtime Ernie's Nov. 12th.

The King County Sheriff’s Department alerts us that Peter K. Ebinger, 24, the brother of Mark K. Ebinger, 25, who was the victim of a fatal stabbing at Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s last month, will hold a press conference on Monday, Dec. 28th.

Peter, 24, will offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed his brother, who was 25.

We’ll have a Reporter and Photographer on the scene Monday and will give a full report next week.

Here’s the text from an email we received from Sgt. Jim Laing:

On 11/12/09 at approx. 1.45 AM a large group attacked two brothers outside Good Time Ernies in Burien. Both brothers were stabbed several times and one died at the scene.

The deceased was identified as Mark K. Ebinger. His brother, Peter K. Ebinger spent several days in hospital but will recover from his wounds.

Detectives believe there are witnesses who have not come forward and that these witnesses have information that would help the investigation.

On December 28, 2009 at 1.30pm Peter Ebinger will speak to the Press and offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed his brother.

The Press Event will be held in Sheriff Rahr’s office, King County Courthouse, 3rd and James, 1st floor.

Ian from local band The Cauze will be playing an acoustic (intimate) set.

Here are the details:

• The event will start at 10pm.
• 21+ only please.
• They’ll be collecting donations to help the victims family.
• The funeral will be next Wednesday (Nov. 25th); Bison Creek will be closed during the service, but will re-open at 5pm.
• Mark was an employee of Bison Creek a few years ago, and all of their employees will be attending this service.

There is still no word from police on the suspect, and while the victim’s identity was revealed in Comments made on this website, we have chosen to withhold those until his name is officially released.

We’ll post updates as more information comes in, but for now, we encourage everyone to show respect for the victim’s family and friends, and to try and value life just a little bit more.

Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer stopped by not only to take these photos, but to pay his respects as well:

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

According to King County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart, a bar fight at closing time at Burien’s Goodtime Ernie’s Sports Bar & Grill Thursday morning (Nov. 12th) led to the stabbing death of one man, age 25, while his brother (24) was seriously injured.

The victim died at the scene, and the brother was taken to Harborview with stab wounds. He is expected to survive.

The incident occurred about 1:40am at Good Time Ernie’s, which is located at 15747 Ambaum Blvd in Burien, behind Wizards Casino.

According to Urquhart, a fight inside the bar involving several people spilled out into the parking lot where the stabbings occurred.

A Burien man, age 25, died at the scene, despite CPR efforts from Sheriff’s deputies (Burien Police) and then from fire personnel. A second stabbing victim, age 24, and also from Burien, was taken to Harborview.

The two victims, who are brothers, have not yet been identified.

Sheriff’s detectives interviewed bar patrons and witnesses, but no one was arrested.

What prompted the fight is unknown, and the suspect is still at large.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer was on the scene this morning around 8:45am, where he spoke with investigators and saw a silver Lincoln Aviator SUV get impounded; he also took these photos (EDITOR’S NOTE: slideshow has been altered & all bloodstain photos have been removed out of respect for the bereaved):

Click to View Scott Schaefer’s Photo Slideshow

RELATED:

• PHOTOS: Scenes From The Memorial Outside Goodtime Ernie’s