A long time ago, Imran Yousuf's ancestors moved to Guyana from India, as part of an immigration wave to that country by people looking for work and better prospects. How long ago?

Some time between 1838 and 1917, the period when the Caribbean countries imported indentured labour from India to replace those who left the plantations starting in 1838, which was when the slavery system was abolished.

Years later, some of the descendants of those migrants moved again, this time to the US. Among them was the family to which Yousuf was born.

Advertisement

Cut to 2016. Yousuf had spent only a month as the security guard at Pulse when the Orlando massacre took place. He had only recently left military service after attaining the rank of sergeant, having worked as an engineer equipment electrical systems technician in the Marine Corps for six years and being sent to Afghanistan in 2011. None of his training would prepare him for what was about to come, although it must have honed his instinct.

Yousuf was taking his final round of the nightclub as the last call was being sent out. That's when he heard gunshots. "The initial one was three or four (shots). That was a shock. Three of four shots go off and you could tell it was a high calibre," he told CBS.

When he came to the staff hallway, he saw many customers packed together. What they did not know was that there was an exit at one end of the corridor. Yousuf's instincts kicked in. 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 out of there."

Although he managed to save an estimated 70 people, Yousuf was modest about his bravery, saying he wished he could have saved more.