Even in the midst of the darkest tragedies, heroes will emerge.
The first hero to arise from the Orlando massacre is 26-year-old nursing student Joshua McGill, who used his shirt as a tourniquet to save the life of a man he didn’t know.
McGill was hiding under a car when he found the shooting victim in desperate need of medical care.
The 26-year-old, who lives in Orlando, relayed the story in a post to Facebook that has rapidly begun amassing thousands of likes and shares across social media.
McGill explained how he was able to extend the man’s life using the only tools at his disposal: their clothes.
“I tied my shirt and his shirt over his wounds to stop the bleeding and got him secretly to the nearest officer who then transported us to the ER,” he said.
The post details the sheer terror of the situation and how McGill was able to react in the do-or-die situation.
“Words cannot and will not describe the feeling of that. Being covered in blood.. Trying to save a guys life that I don’t even know regardless that I’m fine..just traumatized,” he said.
McGill also spoke to CBSN about the ordeal, where he described how he had to push against the blood pouring from the victim's wounds as they ran through the parking lot.
"I applied pressure with my hand and we proceeded to dodge and weave throughout the parking lot," he said.