WFTV Exclusive: FSU shooting survivor details horrific day on campus

ATLANTA — Channel 9's Jorge Estevez spent two days with one of the FSU shooting survivors, who is learning how to adapt to life in a wheelchair after being shot multiple times during the on-campus shooting last month.

Farhan “Ronny” Ahmed, a 21-year-old from Apopka, was outside the Strozier Library the night former Florida State University student Mayron May walked in and opened fire.

Ahmed survived the shooting, but his injuries from that day have left him paralyzed.

Estevez spent time with Ahmed and was amazed that the shooting survivor remembered everything from that day.

Raw: Full interview with Ronny

Raw: Ronny's therapy session

Ahmed was outside of the library, taking a break from studying when the gunfire erupted.

"I was just taking a break outside, talking to some friends," said Ahmed. "We were about to go inside within a minute or two when it all happened."

"You weren't really supposed to be where you were," said Estevez.

"No," replied Ahmed.

Ahmed told Estevez about first seeing the gunman, how the man came at him and the most chilling detail from that night, the look in the gunman's eyes.

"I knew instantly when I was shot what was happening with my body," said Ahmed.

The first bullet forced him to the ground.

"At that moment, when you felt that bullet, what did you think?" asked Estevez.

"It was disbelief. I couldn't believe this was actually happening," said Ahmed.

The second bullet struck Ahmed's shoulder.

"I could feel my lungs filling with fluid, most likely blood," he said.

At that moment, Ahmed said he made eye contact with Mays.

"What did you see in (his eyes)?" asked Estevez.

"Nothing. Just someone...that was crazy, honestly, who didn't care," said Ahmed.

"Did you think, 'What if I die here?'" asked Estevez.

"Yeah, that crossed my mind for a second. I was very worried," said Ahmed.

Even as he faced death, Ahmed was selfless.

"I knew in that circumstance police needed to get here as soon as possible, not only for my sake but for everyone's sake," he said. "I looked at my arm, realized it was shattered and looked at the person next to me and told them to call 911," said Ahmed.

The other student, however, took off without calling.

"When the kid ran away and handed me the phone, I was like, I am alone. I am bleeding profusely. I can't use my legs. My arm is completely useless," said Ahmed, but the call went through and he was able to talk with dispatchers.

"I told them there was a shooting at FSU campus. They asked who was shot, and I said, 'Me.'"

May kept roaming the campus, inciting chaos. He shot two more people outside the library and then police arrived, opening fire and killing him.

"I can hear them screaming at him, 'Freeze. Drop your weapon. Drop your weapon. Drop your weapon,' and then 20 to 30 bullets, shots," said Ahmed.

Ahmed's call helped end the nightmare on campus that day, but as he was bleeding out, there was one more call he wanted to make, to his mother.

"If I didn't make it, I wanted them to at least of heard my voice for the very last time," he said.

"What would you have said to them?" asked Estevez.

"That I loved them. Nothing else," said Ahmed.

He got to tell his family he loved them in person later that night, and he said they are the reason why he'll survive the tragedy.

Ahmed is now undergoing intense physical therapy at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where he is now learning how to use his body and move using different muscles.

"How are you going to beat the odds?" asked Estevez.

"Continue onwards.  I am not going to stop," said Ahmed.

Shepherd Center is a nonprofit hospital that specializes in rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injuries.

"Do you feel anger toward May? After all, he has changed your life," asked Estevez.

"I feel sorry for him.  He is gone, and there is no coming back from that," said Ahmed. "I am still here. I can do things. I am held back a little bit for now, but in six months I will be back to what I was doing before."

Before the shooting, the Apopka native was a hit as a fire-breathing bass drum player at Lake Highland Prep. At FSU, he majored in biomedical engineering and was studying for finals in the library the night of the shooting.

Ahmed is a fighter, who said he doesn't want to let anyone down moving forward, including his family.

"The amount of love and caring and the support they have given me, there is no way I can thank them for that," he said.

Nor the perfect strangers who have donated to his You-Caring account, which has already raised close to $200,000.

"How will this change you for the better?" asked Estevez.

"More motivation," replied Ahmed. "I know I am going to go back and go back to exactly what I was doing, which was do well in school."

WFTV