AVENTURA, Fla. (WSVN) — South Florida attorneys and a doctor are helping a survivor of the Orlando shooting receive vital medical help free of charge.
Mario Perez was at Pulse nightclub, a gay club in Orlando, when Omar Mateen opened fire and killed 49 people and injured 53 others. Perez described his experience in the massacre. “I’m just covering my head like this, and all I hear is rounds, and I’m just jumping — praying and hoping I don’t get shot in the head,” he said.
Perez described the injuries he sustained in the shooting. “The pain is horrible because I can’t sit a certain way,” he said as he pointed to the scars on his body. “If I bend down, it starts to pinch me. I have a fragment here, I have another fragment right here. As you can see, the line went that way.”
A bullet grazed Perez’s side, but the bullet fragments exploded in his body. One bullet fragment is close to his spine, and he may need surgery.
Miami-based attorneys Scott Egleston and Stephen Rosenthal were so moved by Perez’s story that they got him the medical care he needs. “We’re gonna do everything in our power to put him in hands of people that are gonna help,” Egleston said.
“He needs good medical treatment — good medical care,” Rosenthal said.
Dr. Alberto Gallerani is going to help Mario free of charge. “Everybody has a scar,” he said. “Whether it be a psychological scar, an emotional scar or actually a physical scar. To be able to at least start by helping those that we can help is a step in the right direction.”
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