The tragedy that feel upon the community of Roseburg, Oregon, in the form of of a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College is truly awful and devastating. Nine lives were taken away and the heartbreak of that affects many. The names and families of Lucero Alcaraz, Rebecka Carnes, Jason Johnson, Quinn Cooper, Treven Anspach, Lucas Eibel, Lawrence Levine, Kim Dietz, and Sarena Moore need to be remembered and grieved for more than anything. There is also another name to remember, and that is Chris Mintz, the name of a man who risked his life to try and keep those and other people safe.

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Source: Facebook

Chris Mintz was shot at least five times while charging the gunman in an effort to keep others safe by blocking a door, as his aunt Wanda Mintz told Q13Fox, Chris “Tries to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in gets shot three times hits the floor looks up at gunman and says its my son's birthday today gets shot two more times.” Along with gunshot wounds, Chris also broke both of his legs and will need to spend time relearning to walk. Miraculously, he suffered no wounds to his vital organs and will live.

His cousin Derek Bourgeois told The Daily Beast that the two of them joined the army after graduating high school, with Bourgeois being stationed at Fort Bragg and Mintz at Fort Lewis in Washington State. Upon finishing up with the army, Mintz explored martial arts training and enrolled in the Oregon community college with hopes of becoming a fitness trainer. When told of his cousin's courage and self-sacrifice on his son's sixth birthday, Bourgeois responded with “It sounds like something he would do.”

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Source: Facebook

Awake and recovering, Mintz's words to ABC News echo his courage and where his strong heart was: "I just hope that everyone else is OK...I'm just worried about everyone else."

His family has organized a Gofundme page to gather support for his medical recovery, and it has received a lot of attention from many around the country thanking him for his bravery.

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Source: imgur

This is a dark time for many, and those suffering need the thoughts and support of people around the world. While doing that let us also remember someone who did something heroic in risking his life to try and prevent that suffering.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.