ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orange County Fire department added a new member Saturday when they honored a hero who died during the Pulse nightclub massacre.
Dozens of family and friends who loved Cory James Connell witnessed the tribute at the West Orlando Baptist Church in Ocoee.
The firefighters' association bestowed upon the 21-year-old aspiring firefighter the title of "honorary firefighter." They presented his family with a helmet, a badge and a certificate.
"He dreamed of being a firefighter," the department's statement said. "Today he joins our family."
Firefighter Lori Clay said she remembered Connell told her he wanted to "save lives" and help others. And he did just that before he died Sunday when he saved his girlfriend's life. After Local 10 News reported the story, he made national news in Colombia as a hero for saving one of the three Colombians wounded in the massacre.
Paula Andrea Blanco and Connell were in love, his sister Amanda Connell said. He loved her so much he was willing to go with her teammates to a gay nightclub on Latin night to learn how to dance salsa. Before the gunman killed 48 others, Connell moved fast.
"My brother, being the hero he is, threw her hand down, pushed her out the door and told her to run," his 18-year-old sister Amanda Connell said.
After attending a women's tackle football game, Blanco and Connell were part of a group who went to Pulse nightclub to celebrate the end of the season. At 4 feet and 9 inches tall, Blanco played as a cornerback and as a running back for the the Orlando Anarchy, a women's tackle football team.
Blanco couldn't attend Connell's funeral on Saturday. The gunman shot her right arm and she was at Orlando Regional Medical Center recovering after several surgeries. She is among the 44 victims treated at ORMC. Doctors discharged 16 and 19 -- four in critical condition -- remained in the hospital Saturday.
Her Colombian family lives mostly in West Palm Beach and Cartagena, a coastal city in Colombia.
Her sister Laura Blanco traveled from West Palm Beach with her husband, Craig Martinez, to support her. Martinez posted several videos that showed Blanco in the hospital room. She had a visit from a therapeutic German Shepherd named "Thor" and her teammates never left her side.
"Paula has the heart of a lion and though small she is mighty in every sense of the word," said Chandice Hunter, the captain of her team.
Hunter was concerned about Blanco not having health insurance and the hospital bills racking up. The team set up a GoFundMe account and was using the hash tags "AnarchyRises" and "Pray4Paula" to ask for help.
A Connell family friend also set up a GoFundMe account to help his parents.
