SEATTLE - The bartender who was shot when he refused to back down to an armed robber says the incident still seems surreal, even as he lies recovering on a hospital bed.

Miles Thomas was shot early Wednesday morning while working a bar called Serafina's in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood. The armed robber reportedly snuck in through an unlocked back door.

"To think about it, it's almost like a dream you know," Thomas said.

Thomas says he's usually good about locking all the doors after hours, but said he forgot to lock the back door that night. And he says that's when the troubles started.

Around 1 a.m.on Wednesday morning, as he was closing down the bar, the gunman walked in.

"He was wearing a mask and pointing a gun right at me, so that's usually a sign of trouble," he said.

Thomas said the gunman told him to get on the ground and hand over the money, but he didn't comply.

"What I really wanted to do was just get the gun out of his hand," he said. "I don't think those things (the dangers) were going to my head. I was more worried about people in my bar."

Thomas grabbed for the gun and a scuffle ensued, ending with the gunman shooting him in the arm.

Medics rushed Thomas to Harborview Medical Center with shattered bones and a bullet wound in his arm.

"I was absolutely in shock. I couldn't even think. I didn't know what to do," he said.

Thousands of miles away in New York, Thomas' mom got the call from the hospital. She immediately flew in to see her son.

"That plane ride was a very long plane ride," said Thomas' mother, Suzzanne Fokine.

Thomas is now wearing a cast on his arm. He is able to move his fingers and is expected to make a full recovery.

He's already thinking about returning to work, but his mother says she's worried about the gunman, who is still at large. And police say the same robber may be responsible for three other recent restaurant robberies in the Seattle area.

"I wish they would catch him, I really do. I wish they would get him off the street," Fokine said.

Thomas says he plans to return to work after he recovers from his injuries, in about three months.