ORLANDO, FLA. (WSVN) - News of the Las Vegas shooting, the largest in U.S. history, is forcing survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando to relive the horrific memories of what unfolded there, but some of them want to help those who endured Mondays’ massacre.
More than a year later, the pain of the June 12, 2016 massacre is still fresh for Sylvia Serrano. “We woke up to this, and this brought us back to what happened that night,” she said.
But Serrano and other fellow Pulse survivors didn’t just watch the news. Instead, they got dressed in their survivor T-shirts and hats and gathered in front of Pulse to show support for the Las Vegas survivors.
“It’s going to be hard every day that they wake up,” said Serrano. “Sometimes we feel it’s gone or it’s subsided and we’re OK, but it’s not.”
The Pulse survivors want to offer counsel to those hurting in Las Vegas. “It’s hard to sit down with somebody who says, ‘I understand what you’re going through,’ but they don’t,” said Enakai, “so it was easier when the Boston people came and said, ‘We understand’ because they did understand.”
These Pulse survivors plan to get professional guidance on how to relate with victims and their families. “We’re going to ask those therapists to teach us to be therapists for them, and then hopefully, somehow, some way, we can find a way to Vegas and be therapists for those people who need it,” said Enakai.
Adrian Lopez lost eight friends at Pulse. He crawled outside to safety.
“We will show them that we will stand together, and we are together, and I want them to know they’re not alone,” said Lopez. “We’re here for them, and we can support them on anything they want, even to talk to us, ask us questions.”
Forty-nine people died at the Pulse nightclub shooting. At least 59 people died and 527 people were injured in the Las Vegas shooting, Sunday night.
One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of LGBT organizations, is scheduled to hold a vigil Tuesday night for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
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