Non-Profit Steps Up To Help Parkland Shooting Victim's Family
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PARKLAND (CBSMiami) - The family of a 15-year-old who used his body to protect his fellow classmates during the Valentine's Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High is getting some help to pay the bills while he recovers.
The non-profit No More Tears and retailer El Dorado Furniture have stepped up to help the Borges family.
Anthony Borges was shot five times while using his body to barricade a door. A third of his lung had to be removed, one bullet came close to his liver, and three bullets hit his legs in the shooting that killed 17 people. Earlier this week he was finally released from the hospital.
After the shooting, his parents, Emily Delfin and Royer Borges, quit their jobs to take care of him.
To help with immediate care, the family needed to move from their 4th-floor apartment into a single-story home. With no jobs or income, No More Tears stepped in and was able to find them a single-story home, pay for first, last, security and contribute to a full year of rent. In addition, No More Tears held a fundraiser for the Borges family immediate expenses and were able to raise $37,000.
Through a partnership with No More Tears and El Dorado Furniture, the family will be able to pick out furniture pieces such as beds, mattresses (including a special gel foam mattress with adjustable base for Anthony), dining room table/chairs and sofabeds for their new single story home.
Last month Alex Arreaza, an attorney for the Borges family, said the family planned to sue Broward County, Broward County Public Schools, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
"The failure of Broward County Public Schools, and of the Principal and School Resource Officer to adequately protect students, and in particular our client, from life-threatening harm were unreasonable, callous and negligent," Arreaza wrote in a notice of intent to sue.