UC Santa Barbara massacre survivor speaks on the day's events and his journey to recovery

Antoine Cherchian was shot five times but survived.

The fateful night of May 23, 2014, Antoine Cherchian managed to survive being shot by the virgin killer, Elliot Rodger, during his killing spree at UC Santa Barbara. While Cherchian sustained fatal injuries, along with six other students murdered, he is thankful for the angel on his shoulder he now believes in.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "If I'd stood still I'd be dead, but I was spinning around as he was firing, it was like a scene out of Terminator or Saving Private Ryan. I thought he was hitting a cap gun," he said explaining how he couldn't stand still because he had too much to drink earlier, as cited by the Daily Mail.

"He used a gun that Navy SEALs use, if it was cheap then the bullets would have stuck instead of going right through me." Cherchian was hit five times; one missed his heart by an inch, one on his arm, one in his right side, hip and pelvis, according to the report.

Cherchian required six hours of surgery from the bullet that went through his kidney, burst his liver and cut his small intestines into two. A bullet continues to remain inside him, on his behind, because of the greater damage it would cause him to remove it.

"The chief of police said it was the craziest thing he'd ever seen. I've never been religious, but something happened, I had an angel on my shoulder, it wasn't my time," said Cherchian as he described what he recalls after the shooting and what people told him of his situation.

The killer, Rodger, committed suicide after the crime spree, and Cherchian said that he felt no anger towards the perpetrator. He only felt blessed and thankful the moment he opened his eyes for a second chance in life.

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