While students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hid in classrooms to avoid rampant gunfire, one classmate placed himself on the line to protect his friends.
Anthony Borges, a 15-year-old soccer player at the Parkland, Florida school, has been hailed a hero after taking five bullets during the shooting on Wednesday afternoon, when confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz fired several rounds on his former classmates.
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Teenager Carlos Rodriguez and his father told ABC News that Carlos’ and other students’ lives should be credited to Borges.
“None of us knew what to do. So, he took the initiative to just save his other classmates,” Rodriguez, Borges’ best friend, said on Good Morning America.
Rodriguez said that as gunfire erupted through the halls of Building 12, he, Borges and their classmates rushed to hide in a classroom as Cruz is suspected to have fired upon them.
Borges was the last of 20 students to enter the classroom and he was trying to lock the door when he was struck by a bullet, Rodriguez said. But he held his ground in the doorway, keeping his body between the AR-15 fire and his classmates, who all survived the event without injury.
Throughout the shooting, Borges was shot a total of five times, taking bullets to the back and both legs, but he survived, his father said.
Royer Borges told ABC News that his son called him soon after the attack, when he described the mass shooting that left 17 people dead.
“He just called me and says, ‘Dad, somebody shot me in the back and my leg, too,” the father said through tears.
Royer said he has heard of his son’s courageousness and selfless actions in the face of danger. He expressed intense pride in his son.
“He’s my hero,” Royer said.
After the shooting, Borges was taken to a hospital to undergo hours of surgery, but he remains in stable conditiion.
“I only ask that people pray for him,” he said.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Isreal visited Borges in the hospital on Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office shared in a photo post. In the photo, Isreal and Borges shook hands as the student laid in his hospital bed with monitors surrounding him.
The post also shared that while he is recovering, Borges will require additional surgeries to repair his body from taking the bullets.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to aid Borges and his family during this critical period of medical treatment. To learn how to give to this selfless, injured student, click here.
