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Report: Beloved Buffalo Bills fan enters hospice

Posted at 10:37 PM, Apr 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-25 22:37:16-04

The Buffalo News is reporting that Ezra Castro, better known as Pancho Billa, has entered into end-of-life-care.

Castro is with his longtime girlfriend in Houston where he's been undergoing treatments to fight stage-four metastatic carcinoma, a form of cancer. Castro was diagnosed with the disease in November 2017 and has been fighting it ever since.

A lifelong Bills fan living in Dallas, Castro has been a vocal and passionate supporter of the Bills on social media and in the Lone Star State. He's easily recognized at Bills games sporting a luchador mask and sombrero in Bills colors.

He's such a staple, the Bills and the National Football League invited him to the NFL Draft last year and brought him up on stage to announce the team's third round pick.

He's been called the heart and soul of Bills Mafia, and late last year, Bills Mafia surprised him and his family with an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World. He also became the first person inducted into the Buffalo Fan Wall of Fame.

Castro was planning to attend the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville, where he was set to announce one of the team's picks once again, but he faced a setback when he was hospitalized on Sunday.

On Wednesday, he took to Twitter to announce that he was canceling his trip due to his declining health.

During night one of the 2019 NFL Draft, Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott recognized Castro's struggle, saying the team's thoughts and prayers are with him during this difficult time.

A GoFundMe campaign started in Castro's honor has raised more than $35,000.