To Donna Bakaitis, her oldest son didn't die trying to steal copper wire from the Radford Foundry. Instead, she said, he died while doing his best to try to provide for his family, something he had done since he was a teenager.

Christopher Brandon Goad, 24, died shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday at the DeCamp Burn Center at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville.

Burned everywhere except his feet Thursday, he clung to life for more than eight hours after being removed from life support about noon Sunday, his family said.

Goad and his stepfather, Stephen Edward Bakaitis, 46, were both severely burned during what police are calling a break-in that went terribly wrong. Donna Bakaitis said Goad used a hacksaw to cut into a live 4,160-volt foundry wire early Thursday morning.

She believes her husband was hurt trying to help Goad. She said she knew of her husband's and son's plan to break into the foundry, and they had assured her that, because the foundry had been closed for three years, there would be no live wires there.

Stephen Bakaitis, called Steve by friends and family, was listed in serious condition at the burn center Monday afternoon. He has a breathing tube and can't talk, Donna Bakaitis said.

But family members believe they've figured out what happened based on his injuries.

Steve Bakaitis suffered severe burns to his right arm and left hand, which was so severely damaged he may never regain use of it, his wife said.

"I believe Steve tried to grab Chris" and pull him off the flaming wire, she said.

Deciding to take her son off life support was the hardest thing she's ever had to do, Donna Bakaitis said, but she said he essentially died on the foundry's roof.

"God works miracles, but he was taking Chris home," she said.

Doctors said Chris Goad would have needed at least 30 skin-graft surgeries to survive, said his uncle, Thomas Goad.

Even then, he said, he likely would have been blind and wouldn't have been able to talk because his lungs were severely damaged when he inhaled the fire. He wouldn't have been able to walk. And the risk of infection would have been so great he wouldn't have been able to hold his soon-to-be-born child, his mother said.

Chris Goad was always a family man, Donna Bakaitis said. He and his girlfriend, Teresa "T.C." Cole, have a 2-year-old son, Christian Keith Goad, and a daughter, Grace Alize Cole, who turns 4 today.

"That boy of mine had a heart of gold," Donna Bakaitis said. "He loved his children beyond belief."

The young family shared a small Radford apartment with Steve and Donna Bakaitis and their son, Stephen Paul Bakaitis, who's 21.

"We were cramped but happy," Donna Bakaitis said.

Chris Goad raised the younger Stephen Bakaitis and his brother Josh Bakaitis, who is now 19 and lives in Waynesboro.

Growing up, they lived for several years with their grandmother, who was disabled. Chris Goad, just a few years older than his brothers, did the cooking and cleaning and made sure Stephen and Josh got to school, his family said.

"He was a good man," Thomas Goad said. "He was a hard-working man even from a young age when he took on the responsibility of raising his two little brothers."

Somehow Chris Goad managed to maintain a positive outlook, his brother said.

"He was always enthusiastic about life, always positive," Josh Bakaitis said. "Just a selfless type. He would do anything for his kids, obviously," he said, referring to the incident at the foundry.

Donna Bakaitis got news of her son's and husband's injuries while she was in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin, where she is serving a yearlong sentence for driving as a habitual offender. She was released from the jail at 5 p.m. Friday, the day after her son and husband were hurt. She must return at 6 p.m. Saturday.

When she got the news, she said, other women in the jail rallied around her for support "but I wasn't with my family."

Stephen Paul Bakaitis, Goad's half-brother, is incarcerated at the regional jail on breaking and entering and theft charges. He has a preliminary hearing on the charges scheduled for September.

He is hoping to be temporarily released to attend his brother's funeral, his mother said. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.

Donna Bakaitis is trying to get an extension on her own release from jail so she can be with her husband as he recovers while grieving the loss of his stepson, she said.

"He's not out of the woods yet," she said. "He could get an infection. He could die."

In addition to the burns to his hand and arm, Donna Bakaitis said, Steve Bakaitis suffered severe burns to one leg and to his face. His eyelashes, eyebrows and moustache are all gone, his wife said.

"He can't talk or anything," Josh Bakaitis said. "He can understand your questions," attempting to nod in response on a good day.

Sobbing over the telephone, Donna Bakaitis talked about the closeness of her family.

"We didn't want to lose each other this way," she said.

Thomas Goad said his nephew had tried to find a job but had no luck. Chris Goad was smart, he said, but never finished high school.

"It's hard to get work down there," Josh Bakaitis said, explaining that he moved to Waynesboro from the New River Valley to find work.

"They didn't have a whole lot of options. No options," Thomas Goad said. "It's a day-to-day struggle just to maintain life for these two gentlemen and their children."

Breaking into the foundry, he said, "wasn't a selfish act. It was just a last-ditch effort to try to put something on the table for his kids."