Muslim VA Student Gave His Life To Save Others

A survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre has been describing how a colleague died to protect others.

Although badly injured, graduate student Waleed Shalaan distracted gunman Cho Seung-Hui to save another person from his bullets.

Waleed saved another student’s life.

The surviving student, who wishes to remain anonymous, told of Waleed’s heroics through an email to his supervisor.

He describes how he was left uninjured after Cho’s initial round of shots.

Meanwhile, Waleed had been wounded but was still alive.

However, when Cho later returned to the classroom to inspect for signs of life among his victims, the surviving student struggled to remain calm.

He believes he would have been shot dead were it not for Waleed’s “protective movement” that distracted the gunman.

Cho turned and shot Waleed for a second time, killing him, before leaving the classroom.

Randy Dymond, a civil engineering professor, has said the student asked to him to tell the tale “so that the family of Waleed understands the sacrifice.”

Shaalan’s mother broke down when she heard Mr. Dymond’s account.

“He was trying to save someone else,” she said repeatedly.

Dymond said Shaalan’s body was taken to a Blacksburg mosque so classmates, teachers and friends could say goodbye before he was sent to Egypt for burial.

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