Tony Marrero survived the mass shooting at Pulse in Orlando, in part with the help of inspiration from Katy Perry‘s song “Rise.”
“The lyrics to that song are so powerful,” Marrero told Ellen DeGeneres while appearing on her show on Thursday. “So I embraced it.”
Related: Orlando Hospitals Will Not Charge Pulse Survivors
“Have you met Katy yet, or no?” DeGeneres asked.
When Marrero said that he had not, she asked, “Do you want to meet Katy?”
Before he could answer Perry walked out and embraced him. Both were left shaking and moved to tears.
“I just want to say thank you for everything you do,” Marrero told her. “Your lyrics to that song helped me from the day that I was in the hospital all the way to now.”
“Life isn’t easy and you need little reliefs, through songs quite possibly. I’m happy to be a joy, and I’m happy to be a light, and I’m happy I could be there in my own little way to help you,” Perry said.
Perry added that she heard he was a creative and wanted to personally pay for his first year of film school.
Related: “I Still See All The Red”: First Responder In Pulse Massacre May Lose His Job
Marrero was featuring on MTV’s “True Life” episode featuring the survivors of the Pulse shooting that aired in August.
Watch the video of Marrero meeting Perry from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” below.
Marrero was also featured in a segment earlier on her show, watch it below.
silveroracle
Wow that is fantastic.
What a selfless thing for Katie to do.
Thanks to Ellen and all the work she does as well.
Hussain-TheCanadian
Oh wow this is amazing – The human soul is such a powerful force; what im seeing is really special, thank you for the tears.
dinard38
A shout out to Katy for such a selfless act.
I wish Tony and the rest of the survivors the best. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Jack Meoff
Watched this yesterday. It was quite moving.
Chico
Wow. So sweet and sad.
Luvstoread
It’s kind acts like these that make me love her more and more!