WILKES-BARRE -- The nightclub massacre in Orlando hits close to home for one family in Luzerne County. A man in Wilkes-Barre is now without a mother.
It has been a tough day and a half for Mike Marquez of Wilkes-Barre and his family.
"She means the world to me and the 10 other siblings," said Marquez.
Marquez's mother, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool was one of the 49 people killed in the Orlando nightclub shooting.
Marquez didn’t want to show his face because he’s seen all the negativity surrounding this shooting and he doesn’t want his family to be a part of it.
“It's not about gay. It's not about lesbian. It's not about any of that. It's about family."
McCool posted video inside Pulse about an hour before the shooting started.
McCool was at Pulse that night with her 21-year-old son Isaiah Henderson who is gay. The two frequently hit up Pulse for a good time of dancing.
According to Henderson, McCool saw the gunman coming closer and shooting, so she pushed her son out of the way so he could run for the door.
Henderson survived. McCool did not.
"She's a hero. She's a mother of 11. [She’s] just a superhero,” said Marquez.
That's exactly how Marquez wants his mother to be remembered--as a superhero that beat both breast cancer and bone cancer and still was able to take care of her 11 children.
"I want my mother to be remembered as a great person, a person who loved you no matter what color, no matter what ethnicity, no matter what sexual orientation. I want her to be remembered as a loving and caring person."
Marquez and his family are flying to Orlando early Tuesday morning to help with funeral arrangements.
