Brenda Lee Marquez-McCool was dancing with her son Isaiah Henderson at Pulse nightclub when shots rang out over the blaring music. Instead of running away, she threw herself on her son, shielding him from shooter Omar Mateen. She died protecting her son, pictured in the middle crying
McCoo, 49, was a two-time cancer survivor. Her sister-in-law Ada Pressley told the New York Daily News that McCool saw gunman Omar turn his assault rifle at her and her son and said:
“Get down,’ to Isaiah and she got in front of him,”. She was shot dead. That’s how much she loved her kids. If it weren’t for her, he’d have been shot.”
At her funeral at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando today, Henderson, 21, broke down as he paid heartfelt tribute to his mother, almost unable to stand while he spoke.
“I never thought that her life would be ended right in front of my eyes,” he said, sobbing. “My mother accepted everyone with open arms. She loved everybody equally, no matter what.”
His brothers rushed to the pulpit to hold him up and console him.
“I haven’t stopped crying since,” Henderson said.
The funeral was also full of humor and colorful moments as Marquez-McCool’s family remembered her life. She was repeatedly referred to as a resilient woman who was a family leader and a fighter.
Henderson said he and his mother used to wrestle and “play fight,” adding that his mother always won. “I obviously lost. She’s a linebacker!” he joked. His family roared with laughter.
Many of Marquez-McCool’s 11 children spoke. Her brother Michael Santos was the only one of her siblings to offer words of remembrance, and he struggled at times to get through them.
“I have nothing to say to you because my heart is on fire. I have no words,” said Santos.
He spoke fondly of their Puerto Rican heritage and said that his sister was quite the dancer, the life of the party. He looked toward heaven and asked her to “tell Jesus to step up the salsa game.”
Robert Pressley Jr., another of Marquez-McCool’s sons, joined his friends near the altar and sang a tribute to his mother, at times pulling the microphone away from his mouth and holding down his head as he struggled to finish the song through tears.
Source: ABC/AP
