Update: The family has released a statement on funeral plans for Cristian Burgos.
“Hello friends and family, due to circumstances of Cristians father, we are postponing the funeral and memorial for Cristian. (The vigil for Sunday is still set to be, we are just pending the location) We want to make sure that Cristians dad is there with him for his last few moments, therefore we are pushing the funeral till further notice. Please keep Cristians family in your prayers so that they may come together one last time. God bless you all and thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts…#atruehero #unheroesincapa #cristianburgos”
17-year-old Cristian Burgos passed away two days after saving a mother and her son from drowning at Virginia Key in Miami.
On Monday, Elvia Venegas and her 9-year-old son were in the waters of Virginia Key when a current pulled the two under all of a sudden. Without hesitation, Burgos rescued the family only to be pulled under the current himself.
First responders rescued Burgos who was unresponsive and rushed him to the Jackson Memorial Hospital. Burgos remained in a coma for two days until on Wednesday when he was taken off life support.
The Burgos family released the following statement on Wednesday:
“Our little hero has passed away less than 10 minutes ago. We want to thank you all who have been praying for his supernatural recovery. Thank you all who have been donating to help his mother, from the bottom of our hearts. We ask you to keep us the family, especially his mother in your prayers. God bless you all.”
Many friends and family had great things to say about the young hero. “He saved two lives and at a very young age to make that decision it takes a lot of courage,” his cousin Claudia Escobar said to local news.
“He was the type of student that was always there helping other students,” Veronique Toussaint told local media.
Rodriguez said, “I feel really inspired by him and he has inspired other people as well.”
“I admire him very much,” schoolmate Emmanuel Acevedo said of Burgos. “He showed us how inspiring this was with his risking his own life and he was rushed to the hospital. He is a warrior.”
His mother was understandably heartbroken. “The pain is so deep. My boy, every time I see something that reminds me of him, it destroys me,” she said.
A GoFundMe account was created by the Burgos family to help with medical bills.
The MouthSoap sends our condolences to Cristian’s mother, family and friends.
