“I survived kidney failure when I had cancer.”

Those were the words that freshman Cristian Rojas gave the yearbook staff earlier in the year for the Now You Know feature in the 2015 Replay. At the time, he was cancer free. On Monday, May 18, Rojas passed away in the hospital after another battle with bone cancer.

“I’ve known him for six years,” freshman Hailey Moser said. “He was like my best friend. Well, I mean, he still is.”

Rojas had fought cancer three times over a four-year period, once in elementary school, again in middle school, and the final round just this year. However, in his final struggle with cancer, it spread to his lungs.

“He was the only person that really talked to me,” Moser said. “We hung out and quickly became close friends. Then this year, we hung out a lot more.”

After several rounds of chemotherapy, doctors operated to remove the cancer cells in his lungs. The surgery was successful, however, during his recovery process he passed away for an unknown reason.

“No one really told us he was in the hospital,” freshman Marty Butler said. “It wasn’t until he had passed away that we found out there had been something wrong.”

The funeral is Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at Beck Funeral Home Chapel.

“He really liked video games,” Butler said. “He was a normal teenage boy that was obsessed with Cheddar’s. He was very inappropriate and loved to joke about his cancer. I mean, he lit up any room he walked into. Everyone loved him, he was so friendly and such a great person.”