It was indeed one very emotional "The Ellen Degeneres Show" episode on Thursday when pop singer Katy Perry made a surprise appearance on the show. The 31-year-old ""Roar" hitmaker was on the show to surprise Orlando shooting survivor Tony Marrero, who admitted that Perry's song "Rise" was instrumental in his recovery.
In June, the whole world was shocked when a shooting incident at Pulse nightclub in Orlando took the lives of 49 people while leaving 53 others injured. As a matter of fact, the Orlando shooting was considered as the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States, CNN noted.
Among the 53 people who was injured at the shooting incident was Tony Marrero, who was shot four times inside a gay nightclub in Orlando. Almost three months after the appalling massacre, Marrero was invited to share his story on "The Ellen Degeneres Show."
What was more moving about Marrero's television guesting was the opportunity given to him to meet one of his idols, Katy Perry. According to Time, Perry's song "Rise" inspired Marrero during his quest for recovery after the deadly Pulse attack in June.
When Perry and Marrero met, the two couldn't contain their feelings as they tearfully embraced each other. Marrero, who appeared on MTV's "True Life: We Are Orlando" just a month ago to tell his story, admitted that he found comfort in Perry's music following the physical and emotional trauma he suffered when a gunman aimlessly fired at people at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, MTV News reported.
Marrero also told Katy Perry how the powerful lyrics of her song helped him get through life since the day he was in the hospital and up to now. The 30-year-old Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park employee also recounted the story of how he managed to survive the shooting by keeping his head protected under a chair but the gunman also managed to shot him in the back and in his arm, Daily Mirror learned.
Katy Perry, on the other hand, told Marrero that life isn't easy and sometimes people need some reliefs through songs. Perry also added that she's very happy to be an inspiration to Marrero and when she learned that he wanted to pursue a filming career, she offered to pay for Marrero's first year at film school, as per Today.
For a preview of Katy Perry's emotional encounter with Tony Marrero on "The Ellen Degeneres Show," watch the video below. For more news and updates, please check out Parent Herald.
