(Screenshot of White House video)

(CNSNews.com) - The White House said Thursday that President Donald Trump was “deeply touched” by a victim of the Las Vegas shootings that he met in the hospital Wednesday who was recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg and yet rose to his feet to meet him.



“The president was deeply touched by the spirit of the people in Las Vegas. In one particularly stirring moment at the hospital, the president met 28-year-old Thomas Gunderson, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.





“After being shot, Thomas dragged himself behind a row of bleachers and began worrying that he may bleed out, but two young women rushed to his side. One tied a belt around his leg to stop the bleeding, and others rallied a group of men to carry him to safety,” she said.



“He suffered a torn muscle in his calf, making it difficult to stand, but when the president and the first lady walked into his room at the hospital, he endured the pain and rose to his feet. When asked why he did it, Thomas said, ‘I will never lie down when the president of this great country comes to shake my hand,’” Sanders said.



“The Las Vegas Strong hashtag that has swept across social media in recent days could not be more fitting,” she said.



While in Las Vegas, Trump met Wednesday with first responders as well as survivors of what is considered the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.



The president paid tribute to the law enforcement personnel who “bravely threw themselves into danger when duty called.” He said he and first lady Melania Trump “grieve the loss of the law enforcement personnel who were killed in this vicious attack.”



“Many families tonight will go to bed in a world that is suddenly empty. The people they so dearly love were torn away from them forever. Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter. We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. You're not alone. We will never leave your side,” he said.