On Las Vegas shooting victim's inspiring statement of respect for the presidency has gone viral after he posted it on Facebook.
"I will never lie down when the President of this great country comes to shake my hand."
- Thomas Gunderson, survivor of the Vegas massacre pic.twitter.com/HeuBCuK7d6
— Chad (@ChadKubisNC) October 4, 2017
Thomas Gunderson was shot in the leg, and was clearly hurting from the wound, but when he saw President Donald Trump heading toward his hospital room, he willed himself to get up on his feet to show respect for the office of the presidency.
He explained why he pushed through the pain in his Facebook post.
"I will never lie down when the President of this great country comes to shake my hand!" he wrote. "There may be plenty of issues in this country but I will always respect my country, my president and my flag."
"Shot in the leg or not, I will stand to show my President the respect he deserves!" he concluded.
Gunderson slowly and painfully stands in the video after first lady Melania Trump arrives, and President Trump heads toward him.
Gunderson's Facebook post has been shared more than 240,000 times, and has garnered more than 8.3 million views in the eight hours since it was posted. Many more have seen it from videos copied from the original and posted on other social media platforms, like Twitter.
In a prior Facebook post, Gunderson spoke about the goodness that had come from so many in response to the great evil from one man.
"On Sunday night 1 evil man showed us just how cruel this world can be. In return, thousands upon thousands of people showed the world just how thoughtful, caring and kind this world can be," he wrote. "Y'all have made me feel so loved and I'm eternally grateful for that! Pray for Vegas, pray for the families affected and pray for the world. May God bless America!!"
