Orlando Sentinel

Pulse survivor

- By Krista Torralva Staff Writer ktorralva@ orlandosen­tinel.com; 407-420-5417; Twitter: @KMTorralva

and Orlando resident Christophe­r Hansen recently was carjacked in Arkansas by a man he met on a dating app.

Christophe­r Hansen, who rescued several Pulse nightclub victims last year, was carjacked in Arkansas by a man he met on a dating app called Jack’d, according to a Little Rock police report.

Hansen, 33, who lives in Orlando, was visiting his parents in Little Rock recently and said he picked up a man he met on the dating app.

He described a harrowing account of what happened after he picked up the man from an apartment complex. Hansen said they started smoking by a lake when the man wanted to walk along a trail. The trail led to a tarp, he said.

“It was really scary when I saw the tarp on the ground,” he said. “It was almost like a horror movie. I thought, ‘He could knock me out, roll me up in the tarp and dump me in the water.’”

Hansen said he began walking to his rental car, when the man pushed him and grabbed his keys, which had fallen from his pocket to the ground. The man drove away in Hansen’s car.

Police have not made any arrests in the case, and Hansen said Friday he did not know his name or Jack’d user name.

The car was later discovered through OnStar in the parking lot of a Walgreens near the apartment complex where Hansen said he picked up the man.

His wallet and cellphone were stolen and he said he has little money.

He said he can’t afford to rent another car to drive back to Orlando. A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help him pay for the trip back.

Hansen, who said he already suffers from anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder, said the experience further set him back in social settings.

He reluctantl­y agreed to leave his parents’ house to run errands with his sister Friday, but stayed in the car while she went into the bank and library. He has found it difficult to work.

“I’m not ready to go out in public,” he said. “It’s not something that’s easy for me.”

At the same time, Hansen said he feels blessed and recounted surviving the Pulse nightclub attack that killed 49 and injured at least 68.

He’s been heralded as a hero for helping carry injured victims away from danger. He was reunited in the hospital with one of the survivors he helped.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott awarded Hansen a medal and then-presidenti­al candidate Hillary Clinton mentioned him in an address.

“I’m going to show the world positive and optimism,” Hansen said.

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