{"id":3393,"date":"2026-06-09T11:35:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3393"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:35:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:35:02","slug":"pulse-anniversary-a-survivor-moves-on-but-cant-forget-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3393","title":{"rendered":"Pulse anniversary: A survivor moves on but \u2018can\u2019t forget everything\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Juan Jos\u00e9 Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez was at Pulse celebrating one of his last nights in the United States. He\u2019d been traveling around the country for three months, with his final weeks in Florida, and was slated to return soon to his home in Colombia. At the nightclub, he danced with friends and a new boyfriend, Jean Carlos Nieves Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: Our car died, our neighbor helped, and now he won\u2019t talk to us<\/a><\/p>\n

Then gunshots rang out in the nearly pitch black nightclub, he said, the only flashes of light coming from the shooter\u2019s gun every time he fired. One bullet hit Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez\u2019s hand. Another his knee. Another his leg. The last strike to the former physical education teacher changed his life forever, hitting in the middle of his spine.<\/p>\n

He spent about 100 days at Orlando Regional Medical Center, the longest hospitalization of any of the injured Pulse survivors. He was in a medically induced coma for months, he said, and woke to a difficult new life. He learned that Nieves Rodriguez perished in the massacre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried to erase all those memories,\u201d Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez said in Spanish during an interview from his home in Bogota. \u201cBut it\u2019s complicated because I can\u2019t forget everything. Every time I look down, I\u2019m in a wheelchair, and it\u2019s unyielding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten years after the shooting, Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez, 40, is still dealing with the injuries. He takes medication for the chronic pain, but its side effects are difficult to manage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m groggy all the time on this medication,\u201d Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very ugly feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

He works as a cashier at a restaurant in Bogota. But he doesn\u2019t earn enough to have continuous physical therapy, so he saves for months to pay for the intermittent treatment that he hopes one day will allow him to walk again.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife continues,\u201d Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez said. \u201cJust because I\u2019m in a wheelchair does not mean that my bills will stop coming, so you just have to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Miss Manners: They didn\u2019t comment on my body, and I\u2019m offended<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Managing in a wheelchair is exponentially harder in Bogota than the U.S. he said, as the city is not made with people with disabilities in mind. He barely leaves his apartment, and when he does he spends most of his time trying to find ramps to get in and out of places or bathrooms big enough to fit his wheelchair.<\/p>\n

His parents and 19-year-old son live nearby but he doesn\u2019t rely on them for much help, he said, though they were by his side when he recovered in Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a burden on them,\u201d Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

One day he hopes to go back to the U.S. to establish a life in a country that is more accessible.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But visiting Pulse memorials will not be on his to-do list, as he tries to shield himself from any news related to the nightclub.<\/p>\n

Still, he did learn the city of Orlando had demolished the shuttered building in March. It was the only option, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy they tore it down,\u201d Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez said. \u201cWhat could you have done with a building where there was such a terrible massacre?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Orlando Kidz Zone celebrates 20 years of community impact<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Jos\u00e9 Cufi\u00f1o Rodriguez was the mostly badly injured of the Pulse survivors, spending about 100 days in the hospital and waking to find he was reliant on a wheelchair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPulse anniversary: A survivor moves on but \u2018can\u2019t forget everything\u2019 - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3393\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pulse anniversary: A survivor moves on but \u2018can\u2019t forget everything\u2019 - 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