FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ In his Parkland bedroom weeks after being shot five times at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Anthony Borges said, "I feel good."
The 15-year-old appeared on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday morning after being released from Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
He has been improving but still has a long road ahead of healing, his attorney Alex Arreaza said last month. The teen had surgery in March to close the wounds on his legs, which his attorney described as cosmetic. In all, the teen has had nine surgeries, according to NBC.
Borges has been hailed as a hero for using his body to block a classroom door during the school rampage killed 17 of his classmates and faculty members.
"I think I was going to die," he said on NBC.
His friends have nicknamed him "the real Ironman," according to the NBC story.
Anthony Borges, teen wounded in Parkland shooting, is recovering after surgery
Borges was among the most seriously wounded of the survivors. He was released from the hospital but then had to return last month to the intensive care unit after doctors detected a possible abdominal infection and an ulcer in his small intestine from the impact of one of the bullets, his father, Royer Borges, wrote on Facebook at the time.
A third of his lung had to be removed and one bullet came close to his liver, according to NBC.
When asked if he was lucky to be alive during the broadcast, Borges said "yes."
The interview also showed boxes of letters from strangers that the teen has received from around the world and his native Venezuela. Letters called him "ganador" (winner), "luchador" (fighter), and "campeon" (champion.)
The teen emigrated from Venezuela to South Florida three years ago. He played soccer at the Barca Academy in Fort Lauderdale, one of many youth programs operated by the powerhouse Futbol Club Barcelona in Spain. During the NBC broadcast, viewers could see a poster of the soccer team hanging from his window. In Tweets about the story, he's holding a soccer ball in his home.
His family was the first to announce their intent to file a lawsuit against Broward County officials stemming from the tragedy.
