The Australian shot during last week's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla says Israeli soldiers left him to bleed on the deck after a bullet hit an artery in his leg.
Ahmed Luqman was shot twice during the raid and lost so much blood he nearly died. His condition meant he was one of the last activists deported from Israel.
He is now in an Istanbul hospital, from where he gave an interview to the ABC.
Mr Luqman said he was on the back deck of the flotilla flagship the Mavi Marmara, running to get inside, when he saw a laser sight settle on his leg.
Then he was down.
"I obviously knew that I'd been shot when I could see a bullet on the floor and a puddle of blood," he said.
"Blood just pissing out of my leg, from two holes. You put two and two together, and it looks like you've been shot."
The first bullet tore through his leg, partially severing his femoral artery. Another shot hit near his knee.
Israel says its troops were justified in opening fire after being attacked by a small band of violent activists, but Mr Luqman says that is simply fiction.
"None of us know anything about fighting and none of us intended to fight. [We're] peaceful people," he said.
He denied any of the activists were looking for a confrontation and said some simply responded defensively when the Israelis opened fire.
"Me for one, I'm not part of that. I was just trying to get into the cabin and [was] just shot, like most of the other people who were just shot for nothing," he said.
As bad as the assault was, the aftermath, says Mr Luqman, was worse.
"I've just been left there to lay down on the ground and just friggin' bleed, and I can't believe it," he said.
"Many of the soldiers that came up, picked up my passport because it was a different colour, looked at it, chucked it on the ground next to me and said, 'Ah, you're Australian'."
Mr Luqman says Israeli soldiers refused him any sort of medical attention.
"They made me walk, without a stretcher, and climb all the stairs on my own without any assistance, and I passed out like three or four times just getting up the stairs on my own," he said.
Mr Luqman's wife Jerry was with him. The nursing student helped keep him alive as his blood drained out.
Later, as other activists were deported, she chose to remain in detention in Israel to stay with her husband. She says the harsh treatment did not end on the ship.
"Their treatment of us was just completely unacceptable. I've never met anyone whose heart has become so hard and so black in my life," she said.
Both husband and wife say despite everything it was worth it to put the Gaza blockade back in the headlines.
"It is definitely worth it and we'd like to go again. We don't care and if they take me, if they kill me in the process, I'm ready for that," Mr Luqman said.
Mr Luqman's condition is improving. Both he and his wife say right now all they want is to get home to Queensland's Gold Coast as soon as possible.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.