Orlando Shooting: Orlando Hero Saves Wounded Pulse Bartender

A bartender who was injured in the Orlando massacre that took place in the Pulse nightclub was saved by a fast-thinking survivor. The club goer, Joshua McGill, spoke to Good Morning America about coming across the wounded bartender and how he leaped into action to save the bartender’s life.

McGill was probably excited to have a fun night out in Orlando. It was Latin night at the LGBT nightclub Pulse, and McGill was there with his roommates. According to the young man, he heard gunshots ring out at 2 a.m. and ran out to Pulse’s patio exit.

After his swift exit, McGill told Good Morning America that he managed to hop a fence and had to hide behind a parked car nearby. It was then that he saw Rodney Sumter, a 27-year-old bartender, and father of two. According to McGill, he saw Sumter limping and mumbling, obviously wounded from gun shots.

“I went and grabbed him, brought him behind the car where I was. That’s when I noticed he had been shot once in each arm. I took my shirt off, tied it around his first initial gunshot wound on his left arm. I took his shirt off, tied it around his other arm where the other gunshot wound was.”

Good news: Rodney from Jacksonville who Joshua McGill helped to the hospital is going to be ok!!#orlandoshootings???????? pic.twitter.com/bue5vVoSgT

— ILoveLife (@LioraLovesLife) June 12, 2016

There was another gunshot wound to Sumter that McGill discovered later on. The wound was in Sumter’s upper back.

“I just applied as much pressure as I could as we were walking him to the nearest officer that was on standby.”

Since there were no ambulances on the scene, McGill said that he was instructed by police officers on what to do. He was told to lay down in the patrol car with Sumter on top of his body and was told to squeeze his back to constrict the blood from coming out.

“I can hear the police officers in the front seat saying, ‘Keep him conscious, talk to him.’ That’s when I learned his name.”

After saying a quick prayer, McGill spoke to Sumter so he would be conscious even though he was badly injured. According to McGill, he was trying to give him words of encouragement to get through the ordeal.

“Stick with me. You’re going to be fine. I promise you, everything is going to be okay.”

According to officials, he is now waiting for surgery. As for McGill, he hopes to eventually be reunited with Sumter and is currently in touch with the bartender’s family.

Since the Orlando massacre, which claimed 50 lives and injured 53 additional people, we’ve heard tragic stories from families whose loved ones didn’t survive. This is one of those stories that’s somewhat uplifting that came out of what’s being called America’s biggest massacre in history.

Orlando victims: travel agent, brand manager and technician among dead https://t.co/ILdMbJs93S pic.twitter.com/vUsgjd03RD

— The Guardian (@guardian) June 13, 2016

Almost all of the 50 victims of the Orlando massacre have been identified by officials. We’re now learning the details about these people and the unique lives they lived. As the Inquisitr reported, Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34, was known as “top hat Eddie” among friends and was a brand manager of aLandCHUCK.travel, an LGBT travel agency.

Of Sotomayor, friend Jason Howell said, “He was a kind and loving man. A man that lit up the room with his great smile. Always there to try and solve a problem whether small or big. Just the posts on all of the social media sites show how much he is loved and how he touched so many lives….he will truly be missed.”

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35, was a father of a 5-year-old child and was a professional dancer at Disney in Universal Studios for many years.

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice’s haunting texts turned out to be his last words to his mother, Mina Justice. In an attempt to find her son and get his story out, Ms. Justice released her son’s texts, which he sent while shooter Omar Mateen held him and others hostage in the women’s bathroom. He was a 30-year-old accountant.
A GoFundMe was created for Rodney Sumter in the wake of the tragedy.

The site states, “Our goal is to raise money to help support Rodney and his family. They will be able to use this money to pay for medical expenses, other costs that might come up during the recovery, hotels & meals during their time in Orlando to be with their son.”

[Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Images]