TAMPA, Fla — On a Saturday night five years ago, people were celebrating the weekend. Dozens of them enjoying Latin Night at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.
That night a 29-year-old killer started shooting with more than 300 people inside the club. It turned into a three-hour massacre.
But there were also survivors, many who still struggle with the trauma from that night. One of them is Amanda Grau.
"All of a sudden I hear 'pop pop' and I thought it was fire crackers. That's what I thought it was, fireworks. I turned around and that's when I saw him with a gun," Grau said.
It had only been five minutes since she and her friend had gotten to Pulse and gotten drinks. She sprung into survival mode after a gunman shot into the crowd. The next moments were chaos.
"There was a lot of smoke. You could hear people screaming. I just kind of grabbed my thoughts. Then I realized where I was. I kind of went underneath my arm and I said, 'He got me,'" Grau said.
She was shot twice, but could still walk. Running to the bathroom, she saw her friend unconscious on the ground.
"I had to turn back around and leave my friend on the floor which I wish I could've done more. It was just terrible," Grau said.
Over the next three hours, Amanda would be shot two more times, but she came out alive.
"I had to use my left side and pull myself and crawl to the wall. I stuck my hand out like this and they pulled me out," Grau said.
It's been 5 years since that moment, but it's still hard to process.
"Sometimes it feels like it just happened yesterday," Grau said.
Life has been an emotional roller coaster since. She relearned how to walk, married her longtime girlfriend in the middle of the pandemic, and has two beautiful kids. Her family is her rock.
"I can't imagine not being here and not being around my family, so my heart goes out to families that lost their loved ones cause it's horrible. Nobody should lose somebody like that, in that way ever," Grau said.
But the tragedy that changed Amanda's life pushed her into her passion.
"I definitely wanted to pay it forward and what better way than to become an EMT, firefighter, paramedic just like the people that saved my life. Don't live in fear. Live for today because tomorrow's not promised that's for sure. Don't take life for granted. I count my blessings every day that I'm still here and I wish everybody else was too," Grau said.
On Pulse's fifth anniversary, Amanda Grau will honor the souls taken at the memorial in Orlando.
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