Watch Ellen DeGeneres and Katy Perry give Pulse nightclub shooting survivor lots of love

Pulse nightclub shooting survivor Tony Marrero made an emotional appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today and there were tears all around.

Marrero, 33, was one of 53 people who were injured during the worst mass shooting in US history. In all, 49 people were killed during the June 12 massacre in Orlando.

Marrero was at the club with best friend Luis, who he met while working at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

They were about to leave and began heading to the door when the gunman began firing.

‘That’s when we heard the gunshots,’ Marrero said. ‘We looked at each other and we just hit the ground. And that’s the last time I saw him.

‘It was horrible. People screaming, crying. People saying their goodbyes. He shot me four times in the back.’

He protected his head with a couch as he was shot repeatedly, a move that no doubt saved his life. He then spent an hour pretending to be dead before he escaped.

During his recovery in the hospital, someone took a photo of the 33 year old with a sign above his bed which read: ‘I’m still swimming, Ellen.’

It is a line from DeGeneres’s animated film Finding Dory. This led to DeGeneres contacting Marrera and inviting him on her show.

It turns out Marrero listened a lot to Katy Perry’s anthem Rise during his recovery.

He burst into tears when Perry made a surprise appearance on the show.

They shared a long and emotional hug and both cried. He told the singer: ‘Your lyrics from that song helped me from when I was in the hospital all the way to now.’

Said Perry: ‘I’m happy I could be there in my own little way to help you.’

Then she found another way to help: Perry offered to pay for Marrera’s first year of film school.