A Florida student is being recognised as a hero after he saved 20 of his fellow students by using his body as a shield during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Anthony Borges, 15, was shot five times by the alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz is believed to have killed 17 people.
Borges is a soccer player at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the attack occurred, and is now being treated for his gun wounds in hospital.
Yesterday, the Broward County Sheriff visited young Borges as he lay in hospital recovering from the attack.
The Sheriff’s Office posted to Facebook:
Sheriff Israel was honored to visit Anthony Borges, 15, in the hospital today. His family shared that Anthony was shot five times in Wednesday’s school attack.
Fortunately, he is recovering – but has a long road ahead with more surgeries needed. Please join us in praying for the swift recovery of Anthony and all the other victims of this horrific criminal act.
Anthony’s father, Royer, has asked that people pray for his son, and has recalled when Anthony called him to tell him what had happened.
He told ABC News:
He just called me and says, ‘Dad, somebody shot me in the back and my leg, too.
He’s my hero. I only ask that people pray for him.
Carlos Rodriguez, a student at the school, told ABC News that he survived only because of Anthony’s heroism.
As the gunfire echoed through the halls of building 12 at the Florida school on Wednesday, Anthony and his classmates tried to hide.
Anthony was the last of 20 students to enter a room, and was trying to lock the door when he was shot, according to Carlos.
But he did not move; he held his ground in the doorway, and placed his body between the bullets and his fellow classmates. None of his classmates were injured as a result of Anthony’s actions.
In the wake of the massacre at the school, the survivors of the shooting will be heading to Washington to protest the government’s weak stance on gun control.
The attack left 17 students and members of staff dead after alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz walked onto the school premises with an AR-15 rifle.
The shooting has been labelled as the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012.
On Saturday, protestors chanted ‘shame on you’ towards US lawmakers and President Donald Trump, a noted pro-gun advocate, who has so far done little to address America’s gun culture problem.
In the past, Trump has stated that he would never ‘infringe’ on US citizens’ right to bear arms, however, in the wake of this latest massacre, which is the 18th school shooting in America this year, the pressure is on him to take decisive action.
