SAN ANTONIO – A local mother is grieving the loss of her son in a car crash Wednesday morning and speaking out about the teenager’s life and legacy.
Andres Cabrera was only 19 years old, was just starting college and had his entire life ahead of him.
Family and friends are vowing to remember him as the smiling football player who everyone loved.
Hundreds of people packed Reagan High School’s football field as Cabrera’s closest friends led a prayer vigil for their fallen brother.
The sun set on a day no one saw coming, and a car crash no one could stop – that took a teenager no one could bear losing.
"He wasn't afraid even as a boy to tell other friends I love you,” his mother Marcela Cordero says.
Cordero is a mother who has now lost her center. Cabrera was her middle child and a football standout hundreds of people cheered for on the gridiron, where they now find themselves mourning his death.
"Boy, it's really good, because I cannot have this time alone,” Cordero says.
Her grief is illuminated by candlelight. Cabrera’s best friends choke back tears and wear bunny ears, calling the teen a goof who loved Easter.
"He was a giving person,” Cordero says. “He was all the time looking out for who opened the door, who could carry something."
Many of the kids at the vigil are still in high school – too young to face such loss.
They’re channeling the strength to be there from Cabrera, who was always there for them.
"They were together all the time and he showed appreciation to each one,” Cordero says. “Now everybody's giving back to him."
Friends are giving back to his family as well by collecting donations for Cabrera’s memorial service.
