When sheriff’s deputies found out 16-year-old Eric Silva-Gomez was walking four miles each day in the Florida heat to study for school, they stepped in with a gift to make his journey easier. WFLA’s John Rogers reports.
Eric Silva-Gomez of Florida has big dreams of becoming a politician like his hero Bernie Sanders one day.
The 16-year-old's family struggles to get by, and for a long time he had no form of transportation to get to the library to study, so he would walk four miles there in the intense Florida heat, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.
"Nothing is going to be handed to me," Eric said. "I have to earn it."
Officials at the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office got wind of Eric's predicament and were heartbroken.
"Some of us were blessed with so much. And for this kid, all he wanted was a bike so he could travel to the library to study to improve himself," Charles Hampton of the sheriff's office said.
Eric says he will remember this and pay it forward when he goes into public service in the future.
