After a two-year battle with cancer, News Photojournalist Rick Ramírez passed away on Tuesday night.

Ramírez was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013. According to his friend and colleague Mekahlo Medina, he seemed to be improving after treatment, but suffered a relapse last month.

“Rick was such a selfless person,” says Mekahlo, who worked with him at KPNX. “He cared so deeply about everyone else even until the end, when he told his parents to take care of his brothers and friends.”

Ramírez was a Photog for KNXV in Phoenix for the past 9 years. Before that, he worked at KPNX from 2001-2005.

Throughout the years, Rick mentored several NAHJ students, and according to Mekahlo, “continued that mentorship throughout their careers.”

H/T Media Moves