Apopka Relay for Life: Armando Borjas

Armando Borjas was a firefighter for 14 years with The Apopka Fire Department. Before that he was a Marine.

In 2011 he was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer and given six to twelve months to live. Armando Borjas died in 2013. He was 39 years old.

As they have done in years before, the Apopka Fire Department walked much of the Relay in full firefighting protective clothing, which they call "bunker gear" in memory of a fallen firefighter and friend.

When not wearing bunker gear the firefighters carried a 15-pound Halligan bar and used it as a relay baton.

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The Apopka community came together on The Apopka High School football field to fight this disease on Saturday, April 16, 2016. They raise money for cancer research, but they also come together to celebrate the cancer survivors and honor those that did not survive.

Friends, businesses and churches formed teams, spent the day together and walked the quarter mile track in a walkathon styled event. The “Relay For Life”.

They laughed. They cried. They danced. They fellowshiped. They remembered.

This year 38 teams, and 354 official participants participated in the 2016 Apopka Relay for Life. More than $25,000 was raised for cancer research.

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The American Cancer Society Relay For Life movement is the world's largest and most impactful fundraising event to end cancer. It unites communities across the globe to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and take action to finish the fight once and for all.

With the support of thousands of volunteers, the American Cancer Society is helping save more than 500 lives a day.