FLORIDA, USA — A Florida teenager did a special mile run for fallen Stockton Fire Captain Vidal "Max" Fortuna Sunday night. The young teen ran three miles in total, dedicating each to a different first responder who recently died in the line of duty.
Fortuna was among those that 13-year-old Zechariah Cartledge honored. He dedicated his third mile of the night to him.
"Tonight, I'll be running with the Red Line Flag in his honor," Cartledge said in a Facebook video. "I'll be doing seven laps around the track loop at my school, which is the equivalent of a mile, in his honor."
Cartledge did the run as part of "Running 4 Heroes," an organization raising awareness and funds for families of fallen law enforcement and other first responders.
Fortuna was shot and killed after responding to a dumpster fire in Stockton. He was a 21-year veteran of the fire department. Stockton Firefighters 456 Union President Mario Gardea said he didn't know many other firefighter who loved their job as much as Fortuna did. Fortuna also played bass in his ministry band at Big Valley Grace Community Church and is remembered as a gentle and humble man.
"This incident was a very tragic one. This only happened, I believe one or twice, since we started this mission (at Running 4 Heroes)," Cartledge said.
"We just hope that this run can help out the family and department because this was definitely an unexpected passing, and we hope that this run can help out everybody going through a hard time over at the Stockton Fire Department."
To watch the mile run and speech from Cartledge in full, view the Facebook video below.
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