Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24, was someone you wanted to know or have the privilege of being around to soak up her good energy.
“Her smile lit up the room and her laughter brought a smile to your heart,” her sister Natalie Canlan wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Recommended Videos
The online fundraiser was established to help raise funds for Rodriguez Solivan’s husband and her two young sons.
Rodriguez Solivan, known as Mary to her family and friends, was someone you wanted to be near. She had an infectious personality and warm to everyone that she came across.
“Mary was an amazing daughter and an extraordinary sister,” Canlan said.
Rodriguez Solivan was a devoted mother of two sons, Jariel and Sergio, and the wife to race car driver Juan Borges.
She moved from Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Kissimmee with her husband and children.
In one of the last photos of Rodriguez Solivan, her smile was brightly displayed across her face. Rodriguez Solivan went to Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, with her brother-in-law William Borges and friend Jonathan Camuy Vega.
Camuy Vega died trying to shield Rodriguez Solivan’s body from the gunfire. The 24-year-old “died like a hero,” Borges wrote on Facebook on June 12.
“The body of Jonathan was found protecting my sister-in-law,” Borges said.
Borges, the only survivor of the trio, was shot twice and recovered, but the impact his sister-in-law had on his life was lasting.
“I love you from here to the sky, where you are resting. I swear that my heart has a huge ladder tall enough to reach you,” Borges said in a Facebook post.