FOX 17's Josh Sidorowicz reports LIVE from Orlando.
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man who survived the nightclub shooting in Orlando says he thought "I'm next, I'm dead" as the gunman fired toward his head.
Angel Colon described the horrific night he survived during a news conference on Tuesday at the hospital where he's now recovering. Appearing in a wheelchair with the doctors and nurses who treated him nearby, Colon talked about what happened early Sunday at the Pulse nightclub.
He says the gunman shot a girl next to him and then shot his hand and his hip. He says he pretended to be dead and the gunman kept firing his gun.
“All I could hear was the shotgun, one after another, and people screaming, people yelling for help," Colon told a room of reporters.
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Colon says at times the gunman was shooting people who appeared that they had already been killed. He was shot three times and was unable to walk. Colon said he was trampled on by people trying to escape and was later pulled to safety by a police officer.
"I looked up and some cop, which I wish I could remember his face or his name, he grabbed my hand and said ‘this is the only way I can take you out,’" Colon recalled. "I couldn’t walk or anything, so he started to drag me out across the street and I’m grateful for him.
Colon said the floor was covered in glass and blood, and he recalled seeing "bodies everywhere." He would later be one of 44 victims taken just two blocks away to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Dr. Chadwick Smith, an on-call trauma surgeon at the hospital, recalled to reporters the moments when the hospital first received word of multiple gunshot victims. He said the emergency room quickly filled with victims, their families and those searching for their loved ones.
“People in pain, people worrying about their loved ones, people not knowing where their loved ones were, and we were trying to help them all," he said.
Smith choked up a bit talking about the night when he described calling in additional staff and telling them, "this is not a drill, this is not a joke." He said everyone answered "I'll be right there," and dozens of doctors and nurses showed up to help.
Smith, alongside other doctors who treated nightclub massacre victims, described a chaotic night of patient after patient arriving for trauma treatment, doctors at one point describing "truckloads" and "ambulance-loads" of patients.
Dr. Kathryn Bondani said the first patient who arrived was relatively stable, and the staff hoped others would be in a similar condition. But the doctors soon got about five patients in much worse shape.
Dr. Michael Cheatham said the massacre was "the largest disaster that we probably could have imagined," adding that while hospitals and trauma centers prepare for disasters,"you can never prepare adequately."
Cheatham described great support at the hospital, saying there was "never a time we were without anything we needed." He also said the facility escalated from two operating rooms to six within 30 to 60 minutes to care for the flood of patients.
Of the 44 patients brought to Orlando Regional, 22 are still recovering from the mass shooting early Sunday. Six others remain in the intensive care unit, of which two are "profoundly ill," Cheatham said.
"The big question is what their long-term outcome will be," he said, suspecting they may survive but will likely have lasting impacts on their health and functionality.
While investigators work to learn more about the gunman, the victims and their families are now focused on healing, while also offering thanks to those who saved their lives.
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"I will love you guys forever," Colon said while surrounded by hospital staff and family.
Asked his thoughts on the shooter, Colon said, "this person had to be heartless. ... This person is just enjoying doing this."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
