ORLANDO, Fla. – There are the stories that we have told in Orlando dozens of times -- that the nation heard Monday night-- the stories of those who survived the Pulse mass shooting on June 12, a shooting that left 49 dead and 53 others injured. One of those was Rodney Sumter.
Sumter was a guest bartender who was shot three times while he was hiding behind the bar. He took advantage of a moment to run out of the nightclub and that's when he said survivor Josh McGill was there to help him to the hospital.
McGill and Sumter's story was featured on MTV's "True Life: We Are Orlando." News 6 was there while Sumter watched for the first time.
"Uh, this is getting intense," he said, holding back tears in a room filled with family and friends. "I'm very proud of what MTV has done, and you know, again, I'm just really happy for Josh, and I'm very thankful still for his part in saving my life."
Sumter has stayed positive about what he went through, always smiling and never shedding a tear. But his eyes watered Monday night, watching the stories of other survivors, seeing images and pictures, learning so much more for the first time.
"It had to be so scary being trapped in the bathroom. I felt like I was stuck on the floor behind the bar," he said. "Being in the bathroom, the police busting the door down, the wall, him making bomb threats inside -- I thought that was before he walked in. I didn't even know he was a part of ISIS. That's all crazy."
But now Sumter knows he's not the only one healing, saying that we all are: "We are Orlando."
"I saw the segment in the show that somebody said, 'All love, no hate,' and that's how I feel," Sumter said.
