SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Four Mormon missionaries who were seriously injured in the Brussels airport bombing say they are still dealing with physical and emotional scars one year after the horrific event.
Dresden Empey, 21, had surgery last week to remove a piece of shrapnel lodged near a nerve in his leg, the Deseret News reported (https://bit.ly/2nerq88). Sister Fanny Clain, 21, is scheduled to have surgery on her wounded ear in two weeks. Both Mason Wells, 20, and Richard Norby, 67, are still nursing open leg wounds.
The missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were standing together in line when bombs went off in the airport March 22, 2016. Thirty-two people died there and in a blast at a subway station.
“What they witnessed was as bad as any war scene you’ll ever see,” Chad Wells, Mason’s father, said.
One year later, the missionaries said they’ve overcame physical pain and post-traumatic stress disorder to move past the tragedy.
“I’m a lot better than I was a year ago,” Empey said. “My parents might say I look a lot better, too. I’m on my way to returning to life as a normal boy.”
Empey is now training to be a paramedic, but his ultimate goal is to be a firefighter. Wells is a Washington D.C. Capitol Hill intern. Clain serves as a missionary in Ohio. Norby wants to travel and take photos and write a book with his wife, Pam.
“I would say it was all positive,” Empey said. “In the end, there was nothing negative that came from it for me, personally. I feel bad for those who lost their lives or were injured, and for their families. That makes me more grateful for the things we have and the people we love and gives me a greater desire to do good in the world.”
Norby said the four are no longer victims; they are survivors.
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Information from: Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com
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