Saved my life: Trump hugs woman for chart he turned to look at before shooting

Former US President Donald Trump publicly thanked the woman staffer responsible for putting up an immigration chart on screen, which he turned to glance at, minutes before would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at him. Speaking at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the 78-year-old invited the woman on stage and hugged her before pecking her on the cheek.

"She saved my life," Trump shouted to a cheering audience after calling her a "computer genius".

The woman smiled widely after being called on stage, and could only manage to say a "Hi" into the microphone, which drew a smile from Donald Trump.

The rally was the Republican presidential nominee's first rally since th July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"I love that chart. I'm going to sleep with that chart for the rest of my life," he said as the famous illegal immigration chart was displayed to his right.

The former President noted that the chart documenting the levels of illegal immigration in the US over the years is used at "less than 20%" of his campaign rallies and that it is "always" on his left.

Mentioning the bullet, which narrowly missed his face and grazed his ear instead, Donald Trump said, "It would have been a perfect hit."

The 78-year-old also said that typically the immigration chart is pulled up at the end of his speeches as opposed to what happened during his July 13 rally. The woman staffer was "flabbergasted" when Trump had called for the chart early at the Butler rally.

At his Republican Convention (RNC) speech last month, Donald Trump said that he "would not be here today" without the chart.

Titled 'Illegal Immigration into the US', and prepared by US Senator Ron Johnson on a plane ride, the chart was displayed on a large screen behind him during his speech at the rally in Butler on July 13. When Trump had moved his head to the right to look at the numbers on the chart to explain, Thomas Matthew Crooks's bullet grazed his right ear.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired eight shots at Donald Trump at the rally. In the attempt to assassinate him, two people were shot twice and a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was killed. A Secret Service sniper quickly shot and killed Crooks.

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