Parkland Survivor Anthony Borges Prepares To Be In Court For Plea Hearing

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Anthony Borges was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
when a gunman opened fire on February 14, 2018, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others.

He survived being shot that day, but he nearly died from his injuries.

"The kid was in the hospital, he was in an induced coma, they had to cut six feet of intestines, there were nights where looking back we didn't even know if he was going to make it," said Borges' attorney Alex Arreaza.

Arreaza and Borge plan to be in the courtroom Wednesday morning when confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz is expected to enter a guilty plea.

"He's going to come face to face after three years with the guy that shot him and almost ended his life," said Arreaza.

A guilty plea could help bring a chapter of closure, but as a survivor, Borges has life-long wounds, both physical and mental.

"One of the problems that he still has is one of his feet he doesn't have full function in his toes, so they have some more work to do with the ligaments. He's not able to do what he loved to do, [that] triggers the PTSD and creates those problems," said Arreaza.

In the midst of this, Borges is dealing with his own lawsuit against Broward County Public Schools. That's also adding to the stress.

"One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said Anthony wants something he's not entitled too," said Arreaza.

Despite that, Arreaza said Borges is determined to move ahead.

"The only thing he really wanted from all this is to move on with his life but more importantly nothing like this to ever happen again," he said.

After court Wednesday, Borges hopes to focus on recovery and his dreams, even playing soccer again someday.