Orlando Nightclub Survivor Joshua McGill Hailed as Hero

When nursing student Joshua McGill and his roommates decided to spend their Saturday night at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, they found themselves in the midst of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, leaving 49 people, and the shooter, dead.

In the wake of the tragedy, acts of heroism are coming to light from survivors. One such hero is McGill, who’s brave and quick thinking managed to save a man’s life.

The 26-year-old student told CBS News that it was a typical night at the club during last call when he heard three loud shots.

At first, he didn’t know what it was, telling CBS he thought it may have been the sound system malfunctioning.

But then he saw people ducking and heard someone say, “Get on the ground.”

McGill and friends got on the ground, but were near the back exit so they managed to sneak out to the back patio area where they still weren’t sure what was going on.

More shots were heard and he saw staff members running out of the club, at which point the gravity of the situation became clear.

He and his roommates jumped the fence that was surrounding the patio area and proceeded to flee the area while more shots were being heard inside. McGill said he “ducked under a car” and then crawled under an SUV for safety, as he didn’t know whether the shooter was outside or not.

Once the shooting appeared to sound further away, McGill deemed it OK to come out from the car and head to a police perimeter across the street. However, before doing so, he heard some mumbling.

The mumbling came from a Pulse employee later identified as Rodney.

“He was kinda (sic) panting. I saw blood on him … I kinda snuck him over to me,” McGill told CBS in a phone interview.

“He was like, ‘I think I got shot, I think got shot,'” McGill continued.

At first, McGill saw two gunshot wounds in each of the man’s arms. He took off his shirt to tie around one of the wounds and managed to get Rodney’s shirt for the other, and then saw Rodney was shot in the back as well.

McGill said he applied pressure with a hand while they limped through the parking lot to the police perimeter across the street.

However, there were no ambulances available, so an officer took them by police car to a nearby hospital where McGill continued to apply pressure to Rodney’s wounds. Once they arrived, Rodney was admitted to the ER.

A Facebook post from McGill said Rodney was in surgery this morning.

McGill told his story in another Facebook post that has since gone viral.

He explains he felt he was there for a reason.

“I felt God put me at the club and made me stay behind to help a complete stranger,” he writes. “For whatever reason that may be.. (sic) I don’t know, but I do know it was hopefully to save his life.”