Former President Donald Trump recounted the assassination attempt against his life for the first time in a speech to the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday night.

Trump took to the stage on the final day of the RNC to accept the GOP nomination for president less than a week after a gunman’s bullet tore through his right ear. He recounted the harrowing moment, which took place on Saturday at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania, for what he said would be the last time “because it’s actually too painful to tell.”

The former president had just taken the stage at the rally in Butler and was referencing immigration numbers shown on a screen to the side when he was shot.

“In order to see the chart, I started to … turn to my right and was ready to begin a little further turn – which I am very lucky I didn’t do – when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” Trump said. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet,’ and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood, just absolutely blood all over the place.”

As the president dropped on stage in cover, Secret Service agents rushed to shield him.

“These are great people at great risk, I will tell you, and pounced on top of me so that I will be protected,” Trump said, adding that he felt the presence of God protecting him.

 “There was blood pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” Trump said, evoking cheers from the audience.

“The most incredible aspect of what took place on that terrible evening in the fading sun was actually seen later,” Trump said. The crowd of thousands of his supporters at the Pennsylvania rally did not, generally, fall into chaos or stampede, which could have injured many more people.

“This massive crowd of tens of thousands of people stood by and didn’t move an inch. In fact, many of them bravely but automatically stood up looking for where the sniper would be. They knew immediately it was a sniper, and then began pointing at him,” Trump said.

The former president said that while he was down on the stage, covered by Secret Service agents and bleeding through his right ear, he could see the concern written across the faces of the crowd.

“They didn’t know I was looking out. They thought it was over. But I could see it and I wanted to do something to let them know I was okay,” Trump recounted. “I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting, and started shouting, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’”

“Once my clenched fist went up, and it was high into the air – you’ve all seen that – the crowd realized I was okay and roared with pride for our country like no crowd I have ever heard before. Never heard anything like it,” Trump said. “For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the love shown by that giant audience of patriots that stood bravely on that fateful evening in Pennsylvania.”