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Orlando Shooting Survivor Breaks Down at Heroic Mom’s Funeral After She Saved His Life

A true hero. The Brooklyn-born mom who saved her son in the Orlando nightclub shooting was remembered during an emotional funeral service at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando on Monday, June 20.

As Us Weekly previously reported, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool was salsa dancing with her son Isaiah Henderson when gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub, on Sunday, June 12. The 49-year-old mom of 11 reportedly stepped in front of her son and instructed him to “get down” moments before she was shot dead.

Sons Michael Marquez, from left, Isaiah Henderson and Robert Presley grieve during the funeral of Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, Fla., on Monday, June 20, 2016.
Sons Michael Marquez, Isaiah Henderson and Robert Presley (from left) grieve during the funeral of Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, FL, on Monday, June 20, 2016. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images

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“My mom was the best mom,” Henderson, 21, said, sobbing, during a heartbreaking eulogy on Monday, according to a video posted by NBC News. “I never thought her life would end right in front of my eyes.”

The family processes with the casket of Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool during her funeral at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, FL, on Monday, June 20, 2016.
The family processes with the casket of Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool during her funeral at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, FL, on Monday, June 20, 2016. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images

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He continued, “Everybody who knew my mom knew her as the mom everybody wanted. She always took everybody in with open arms. She loved everybody equally, no matter what. I wouldn’t trade my mom for the world.”

Isaiah Henderson, Tatiana Harris, center, and Khiana Marshall watch 49 white balloons after they were released during the funeral for their mother, Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, Fla., Monday, June 20, 2016.
Isaiah Henderson, Tatiana Harris, center, and Khiana Marshall watch 49 white balloons after they were released during the funeral for their mother, Pulse shooting victim Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, FL, Monday, June 20, 2016. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images

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McCool’s brother, Michael Marquez Jr., later said that his sister is dancing in heaven, quipping, “Tell Jesus to step up his salsa game.”

McCool, who was a two-time cancer survivor, was studying for her real estate license after moving to Orlando from California. She was born in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

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“She was a warrior,” son Farrell Marshall Jr. said on Monday. “You have to pay attention to certain moments in your life. You go from seeing your own mother smiling to seeing her in a coffin. I’ll never see her smile again.”

The shooting at Pulse nightclub, which is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, left 50 people dead, including gunman Mateen, and dozens more injured.

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