NEW YORK: Former US Marine sergeant of Indian origin, Imran Yousuf, was hailed as a hero for saving dozens of lives at last week's Orlando night club massacre where a terrorist went on a killing spree, taking 49 lives before he was shot down.
Yousuf who was working as a bouncer at the Pulse Club that fatal night heard the gunshots and quickly acted on his feet. While almost everyone froze in fear, Yousuf jumped up and at personal risk, opened a back door allowing people to escape. In an interview, he said, "I'm screaming 'Open the door! Open the door!" and no one is moving because they are scared. There was only one choice. Either we all stay there and we all die, or I could take the chance, and I jumped over to open that latch and we got everyone that we can get out of there." He said his action saved 60 to 70 lives but regretted not saving more. "I wish I could have saved more to be honest. There are a lot of people that are dead."
He was praised by the Marine Corps Times newspaper who shared Yousuf's Facebook post on their site. It read, "There are a lot of people naming me a hero and as a former Marine and Afghan veteran I honestly believe I reacted by instinct... While it might seem that my actions are heroic I decided that the others around me needed to be saved as well and so I just reacted." While there has been a little confusion over his name, it is reported that his mother and paternal grandmother are Hindus and he identifies with the religion.
He grew up in Niskayuna and joined the Marine Corps soon after he finished high school at the age of 17, serving both in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had left just last month. His brother Ameer Yousuf said, "This was so unexpected but because of my brother's training in the Marine Corps, he was prepared and used strategies from that to do everything he did."
