On Tuesday, American missionary Mason Wells was lucky to survive the Brussels bombings, which have since seen some unfortunate fallout while authorities pursue ongoing counterterrorism raids. Belgian police have detained many parties in conjunction with terrorist activity, both recent and planned, as they work to find those responsible and prevent future incidents. Meanwhile, the victims of this attack who were lucky enough to escape alive are inching towards recovery.
For Wells, this was actually his third encounter with terror. He avoided close calls in Boston and Paris, but he was severely injured when two explosions occurred at the Brussels airport. He previously tried to downplay his afflictions to spare emotional pain for his parents, but Wells sustained second- and third-degree burns on his face and his right hand (which got it pretty bad). In the above interview, Wells spoke to the Associated Press about how grateful he feels to be alive:
My only thoughts, my only feelings just for the people that are out there, I hope that they’re doing okay. I’ve just wanted to pray for them. I’ve been praying for them since it happened. That’s the only feeling I have is I hope they’re okay. I’m very lucky. I know there there were some that were not as lucky as I was.”
Wells says he was conscious for the entire airport incident, and he recalls feeling fire by his face and being picked up by rescuers after rupturing his Achilles tendon and suffering shrapnel injuries. He has a long, hard road ahead of him with a few more weeks left in the hospital, and then he can start picking up the pieces. Most folks would probably never travel again after such a trifecta of horror, but Wells’ spirit shall prevail.
(via Associated Press & CBS News)