Chris Stone will forever be known for the courage he showed in his final moments.
The 17-year-old was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Young Hero Award for using his body as a barricade to stop a shooter from entering a classroom at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018.
Stone was one of 10 people killed that day, but he's credited with saving his classmates by sacrificing himself.
"There's a lot of people in this world who wouldn't do what he did. A lot of people who would run and save themselves," former Santa Fe student Reagan Gaona told KHOU. Gaona was Stone's girlfriend, and she wrote to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society to nominate Stone.
Before his death, Stone spoke about feeling like he had a duty to protect people, Gaona said.
"[He said] 'That's what I'm here for, I'm here to protect people.' And I was like, 'Well, what do you want to do?' And he was like 'I'm not sure what I want to do for a living yet, but I know I'm here to protect somebody,'" Gaona remembered.
Stone is the second Santa Fe High School student to receive the award. Christian Riley Garcia, 15, posthumously received the young hero award in 2020 for his bravery.
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