Live to Tell: The Long Road Home

Music Just then, something rippled the surface of the black water. See that? My brother whispered. Something really big is out there, I squealed. My dad's face became very serious. Maybe he was even a little scared himself. What if it comes after us? my cousin Bill cried. You want to grow up experiencing those things that dads do. You just can't picture not being part of their life. You know, you can't picture not being there for them. Cecilia, monsters are very real. No, they are not. Vanessa, are monsters real? No, they aren't. Are you sure? Let me see. Are monsters real? Are you sure? Are you sure? Not many people get to pinpoint that specific point in their life when, you know, your life changed. Mama! Don't help me! Don't help me! I'm thinking I gotta make it, I gotta make it, I gotta make it, I gotta see my daughters again, I gotta see my girls. The whole time you're just fixated on that one thing and you don't want to let any negative thoughts into your mind at all. You're about to die. I can remember just fixating on a point in the ceiling and just being like, okay, no, you know, they're not going to get me, they're not going to get me. The power of an explosion, it just shatters everything. It not only broke my bones, but it exploded my muscle tissues around my bones. You have life kind of like pulled a rug right from under you. I knew that I had an advantage during the attack. I played 15 years professional. Any athlete has to push their limits. There were lots of things that took place that happened for him to make it. If you take one of those away, I don't know if he would have survived. At that time, I didn't really care whether I had legs or not. I just was going to be alive. I was going to be able to see Sarah, Cecilia, and Vanessa again. And so that became my motivation, really, throughout the... It was my two little girls. I mean, to think I was 30 yards away from a blast and life said, it's not your time yet. For what reason, I don't know. But I was truly, truly lucky. I had no fear. I was, you know, never been scared of flying. I've never been, never thought twice about being in certain areas. You know, traveling is such a second nature for me. Sebastian Bellen has spent much of his life on planes. Born in Brazil to Belgian parents, his father's job as an international businessman took him all over the world, including here in the States, where he played college basketball. Basketball became kind of my sport because I didn't stop growing. I think I had a lot of friends like, dude, you can't play soccer. You know what I mean? You're 6'9", you can't play soccer. Bell out on the weak side. First, he played at Marist College in New York, and then transferred to Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, where he met his wife, Sarah. We're awesome. After marrying, they relocated to Europe, where Sebastian continued his basketball career playing professionally. He was a spirited guy. Just ask for the ball! Come on, guys, we can do this. When you're hot, you're hot. Really emotional and passionate, wanting to win and wanting to win as a team. So we were living a good life. I mean, it was fun. And then little Cecilia came along in 2008. You're going to have a little sister to take care of. And then 2012, Vanessa came along. Uh, peek-a-boo! You come home to your daughters, the basketball side, everything that's been your focus changes. That's what matters. So after a long 15-year career, Sebastian retired. He moved his family to Sarah's hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, and became a partner in a sports streaming startup, a job that required travel between Europe and the United States. I'll give you that. I know you can't, you're gonna do that. You know, I was traveling probably two weeks out of every month I was on the road. When Sebastian started traveling and taking airplanes a lot, I didn't love it but I don't love flying since what's happened with 9-11, it's kind of spooked me. And then I also would push it out and be like, Sarah, let's be realistic. What's the likelihood of something happening? Sebastian flew out, it was the 6th of March. It was a Sunday, because I remember that I was baking a cake with the girls for my sister's birthday. Looking back at those photos, I would get teary-eyed because for one, I knew that was the day that he left. And it was carrot cake that we were making, and he loves carrot cake. Sebastian was heading to Brussels on yet another business trip. But this time, he was traveling during an especially dangerous period. Four months earlier, terrorists killed 130 people and wounded more than 350 in the worst terrorist attack in Paris history. The atmosphere in Brussels was tense. Because they had found that a lot of these terrorist attacks in Paris were coordinated and originated from one of the suburbs of Brussels. Just days before Sebastian was to fly home, two of the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks were arrested in the outskirts of Brussels. So I really feel that the days leading up to March 22nd, I started getting gut feelings. You're not safe. I remember being at a restaurant with my good friends, and there was a lot of talk about, you know, what are the consequences of these arrests. and the restaurant had huge glass windows overlooking the street. And I remember thinking, if terrorists decide to go down this street and start shooting up with this restaurant, I mean, there's no way to hide. The last time I spoke with him was via text, and he was just heading to bed. It was already really late there. Sebastian was flying home. And then we were spending the long weekend, the Easter weekend, together as a family. I get dropped off by one of my colleagues at the airport. A lot of flights go in and out, very open, you know, very easy. You can park right in front of the airport. I remember seeing the clock on the car, 745, and I immediately go check in. And my flight was like at 910 or something like that. So not a lot of time to check in. And so I run to the check-in counter, get my boarding pass. I was one of the last ones to check in. While Sebastian was checking in, at 7.55, three members of an ISIS cell, with ties to the Paris attacks, were entering the airport. Each one pushing luggage containing a bomb. There's not a worry on my mind. Everything's right. And then in a span of three minutes, my life changes. I see the blast and I felt the blast, but I didn't get hit. I escaped it. I remember looking back and seeing the tunnel from where the blast went off just collapsing. and I started hearing screams, and I immediately knew that a bomb went off. Then I immediately start running. You want to run towards a gate where there's policemen with guns. Don't run outside. Don't run because you don't know where the second bomb will come from. If there's a second bomb, you don't know anything. So in a split of a second, I had to decide, do I run outside or do I run towards the gates? And I ran towards the gates Go outside When death is right in front of you you get a lot of clarity Because the things that flash in front of you are all the things that you would regret if you died at that moment. And I remember running faster than some people. I'm like, you know, dodging people, trying to get by them. I think I'd made it. You know, I think I'd escaped something. But then, yeah, the second one caught me. Stay down. Stay down. The violence of an explosion just rocks you. It projects you forward. Go, help! For two or three seconds, you don't know what hits you. Go, help! You're hiding your balls, because you're in your noise. I'll be in high position. All I know is I was coming to my senses. I'm leaning on one side, and I knew I needed help. So I start, you know, I tried crawling, but crawling is so inefficient because there's so much debris around you. So I start waving my hands and screaming to try to get attention. And a minute or two later, luck has it, I just feel a tug on my arm and somebody starts pulling me. And my first instinct was if they start pulling you, your left leg's not gonna come with you. So I'm reaching down, holding on to my left leg, and he drags me, I would say 10, 20 yards, to behind the column. And I look down at my hip, you know, I just have bone and flesh sticking out from just underneath my belt. So then I start seeing about my legs, and I could just see the pools of blood already, you know, around both legs. I'm just so focused on the instinct of survival. So I didn't realize there was a photographer there taking my picture. I saw many passengers with their legs blown up. The photographer was Kadavan Cordova, a foreign correspondent for the Eurasian country Georgia. I'm standing in front of the Brussels Airlines ticket office. It's me. She had been checking in for her flight when the bombings occurred. I took only 12 pictures, and I had only one minute. So 12 pictures in a minute. I call them my photo heroes. It was very terrible to realize what has happened. There was a dead woman right next to me, and she was like all white. I remember a wedding ring, like looking at her hand, and I remember a wedding ring, and suddenly I started thinking of my girls and Sarah, and I said, if you stay here with all the blood, with your sweating, you're gonna die. In the morning, I'd always go to his account, you know, to see what he sent. He'd always sent really nice messages and things, and I got nothing. I know from basketball and from injuries, the more your feet are elevated, you know, the less blood will flow into them. So I saw a gray suitcase, and I asked for somebody to bring me over that gray suitcase. The pain you feel of actually someone lifting your almost detached legs onto a suitcase is excruciating. And then to my right, I remember seeing a scarf as well lying on the ground. So I asked someone to bring over the scarf and to use it as a tourniquet around my right leg. I could see also how much blood I was losing. And so it immediately whipped me into shape, saying, you need to get out of here. So I look around, and I saw a luggage cart. And so I told someone to bring over the baggage cart, and they lifted me up onto the cart. That was the second time I really felt excruciating pain. And so I asked somebody to push me to the front of the airport. I said, look, I've got to get in the ambulance. And they were all like, no, no, you've got to stay here. You cannot move. You have to stay here. We have to secure the airport. but I started saying, if I stay here and I die, it's on your conscience. This is on you. And finally, you know, they pushed me to the front of the airport, and I remember the push about a few seconds later. A fireman come around the corner, and they pick up. I remember them trying to push me through the rubble, and they couldn't do it, so they just picked me up, and they carried me outside. Two terrorists had died when their bombs went off. A third bomb never exploded, And the terrorist carrying that one, the man in the hat, was on the run. It had been nearly two hours since Seb was hit by a bomb. He had lost 50% of his blood. Finally, he was on his way to the hospital. They asked me for a phone number. And, you know, that's actually the first time I panicked. I couldn't remember a phone number. And so I was like, how am I going to get Sarah the news? How am I going to get my girls the news that I'm alive, that I made it? And I gave my in-laws landline, which is a number that I've memorized for 18 years. I was like, please answer the phone. I got a phone call from my mom. I didn't realize at the moment how major, how big the terrorist attack was. It was all about Sebastian at that point. OK, well, he's hurt, so how hurt is he? By now, Kudovan, seen here at the airport, started posting about the attack on social media. And first photo I posted, it was a photo of Sebastian. For me, it was most important to show everyone, as many say, the face of terrorism. And I immediately went to Facebook, because that's where the news is, quickly. and I saw the photo of Sebastian, you know, lying on the ground. And I remember I was screaming with terror, you know, because he was down on the ground. And just thinking about he could have died or is there still a chance that he could die? I mean, there was all these, so many things going through my mind at that point. The whole purpose was just to get out alive. So you start telling yourself, well, if I lose my left leg, I'm okay. And then they put me under to sleep, and I don't remember anything after that. In my mind, it was the worst-case scenario. Two hours after the bombings, Sebastian Bellen finally made it into the operating room of Dr. Dimitrios Koulalis. When you have patients coming out of an explosion, you cannot always find immediately the injury, so you're always afraid that there's something that you missed. Sebastian's right hip and left leg were shattered. Shrapnel from the explosion ripped through his leg, leaving muscle and bone exposed. This is the fracture of his left leg, of the left tibia. You can see it's multifragmented, many fragments. All these are pieces of bone, and the fibula was broken as well. Dr. Koulalis and his team spent four hours stabilizing the fractures with a brace, controlling the bleeding, and removing the shrapnel. All the while knowing more surgeries would be needed. I woke up from surgery. You're so tired, you're so drained, emotionally and physically, that there's not a lot of room to digest what happened. It's not until later that I realized that there was an attack on the metro as well. At 9.11 a.m., that same morning, Another suicide bomber attacked the Malbec subway station in the heart of Brussels. Between the two attacks, over 300 were injured, and 32 people had lost their lives. They included people of 14 nationalities, including Americans, mothers, fathers, students, and even a pair of siblings who were on their way to visit their favorite city, New York. Life is just, you know, it's on threads. It's, um... Yeah. You need a lot of luck in these situations. I remember being extremely impatient and desperate to hear his voice and actually hear that he's okay. The first conversation I had with Sarah, I tried to reassure her. I said, no, look, I'm alive. I'm okay. Everything's going to work out. I didn't believe that he was completely okay. You know, I didn't trust it in his voice. you know your spouse you know and you can tell if they okay or not So I maybe calmed down a bit When I first arrived to the hospital, I just remember being so excited to see him. We both did cry. There were tears, but that's a time of, I mean, I can't stop smiling because I remember that. It's just that feeling of he's here and I can hug him and we can do this. We're together. He made it. We're only about a half a mile away from the office of the mayor. I was in Brussels covering the attacks when I first met Sebastian. Hey, Sebastian. How's it going, man? The one thing I'm trying to ask myself all the time is, how did I get through this? I would have signed, you know, on the dotted line that said just to be alive and see my two girls again. And I was there when Sebastian's father, his stepmother and two younger brothers, flew from California and paid him a surprise visit. What are you doing? Hi. You can't do that to me. He and his dad are really close. Oh, man. You gotta give me a little heads up after all this. For him to be able to see his dad again and everything that he'd been through, I mean, he just kind of let it go. I remember the military guy wrapping. Tying up your back. The big question, would Sebastian ever walk again? Over several weeks, he had four more surgeries to repair the fractures. Now, it was a waiting game. I look forward to challenge myself to get back to where I was before. When I'm in the hospital, this is my pull-ups. And you just hold. Go back down. He's a fighter. He's a man of positive thinking. It's something every doctor hopes to have on his patient. In the days after the bombings, tension is high and security has increased throughout Belgium. The manhunt for the terrorists is intense. In the suburbs of Brussels, police arrest some of those involved in the bombings, including the key player, Mohamed Abrini, the man with the hat. Where are you going now? To the hospital. To the hospital? No, the hospital. Hospital. Hospital. Who are you gonna see? Yes! It's unbelievable to think that I was very close to never seeing them again. They just walk into the room and everything's great. I think kids need to touch. You know, they need to be present. Come here. Mom! Careful there! Mom! Why are you afraid? You think you're going to hurt my... You're not going to hurt that. You're not going to hurt that. You don't have to worry. It's all better. Go ahead. Knock it away. Yeah. Try it. FaceTime's great, but to see the actual cast, to touch it, you know, they see that their dad is getting better, you know, is healing. So what happened to Papa's... Why did Papa hurt his life? Because of the bad guys. Because of the bad guys? What did the bad guys do to Papa? Hit him. They hit me? He's got a toy. Hmm. And then the leg was broken because they hit me? Yeah. But where are the bad guys? They're there. Okay. So we're all good, right? Can I still throw you up? Can I still throw you up? I'm gonna throw you up. I'm very happy to see you. Tough boy. Tough boy. Why do you say tough boy? Because I'm strong. I'm strong. Hello. But when it comes time for Sarah and the girls to go back to Michigan, Sebastian can't go with them. Look at mama. After enduring five surgeries, he needs one more. And this one will determine whether he'll be able to walk again. Hey. Did I wake you up just now? Are you sleeping? I'm a little bit anxious about the surgery, but I'm really looking forward to it. They're taking me. They're going to put a pin through my knee, which will solidify the tibia. Love you, honey. See you in a bit. Love you. Love you too. The risk when you drill a pin into a bone is that you increase the chance of infection. It's a chance I'm willing to take. See you later, son. See you, buddy. For years, Gone South has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens. Through deeply reported, narrative-driven stories, we're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that still shape the South, and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to Gone South Season 5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. It's amazing. So this is the shrapnel that was in my leg that came out. Good riddance. The operation went well. I'm just happy it's the last one, I mean, hopefully. You know, it's the sixth one, sixth and final one. It's amazing just seeing both of the legs. I haven't seen both of my legs just almost bare like this in two months. Nothing is taken for granted anymore. When you survive something like this, and there's not one single minute where you don't sit here in complete gratefulness. I fought pretty hard to get here, and it's almost like it's full circle. This last surgery was on Friday the 13th, coincidentally, but the next day was his birthday. So I made a video to his favorite song, and I wanted to put something together of photos for him to that song. That's amazing. It was a special birthday. He was alive, celebrating, you know, turning 38. So that's amazing. I might have all the birthday presents I need for the rest of my life, But don't tell my wife that. This is the first time I've been out of the hospital really since the attacks. Is there a ski limit? The trip is to a Brussels basketball arena where Seb is heading to cheer on one of his old teams, as they root for his recovery. This was home for four seasons. I've got some good memories here. Thank you very much for the support. And thank you. I did the jump ball, you know, at half court and see basically, you know, a 4,000-seat arena just give me a standing ovation. Watching guys that I played with. And so to see it was difficult. I still don't know whether I will be ever able to do sports like I was before. You know, it depends how I heal. This is a big step. It's all about being able to put more and more weight on my hip, which was reconstructed, and on my leg, which was completely reconstructed as well. So it's a big step. Ready? Let's go. One, two, three. Okay I feel great It more It good Perfect All six surgeries are done. The follow-up has been done. Everything is positive. So the next chapter is being able to focus 100% on rehab, which I'm going to do at the University of Michigan. But I think the big thing is for, you know, for my daughters. I love him so much. With kisses on my cheeks. For me to be present again and for me to be, you know, University of Michigan is an hour away from our house. So it's a step closer, they'll be able to come visit. I love him so much. Tall, strong and big. It's about four in the morning. It's a big day, so I'm heading home. Thank you very much. Thank you. I mean, there's still vivid images of the attack in my mind. I just don't want to wake anything up. Hello. How are you doing? Oh, that's serious. You okay? Oh, that's good. Okay. Awesome. I'm going to take off. Ready to take off? I wanted the flight to obviously go well. I was concerned about how he would be feeling, if he'd be uncomfortable. I was trying to get as many people who could come to be there. He had no idea. We're ready. We're bursting. Okay! Really? I'm just waiting for CC and V to run for me. Three months in the making. It's a long time. I've been through in Detroit airport I don't know how many times so I know exactly where we're heading but then the wheelchair exits the elevator and I see all my family that are there All of a sudden, it's just, it's the realization that the toughest is behind you. The road is still long, but you got all these people that got your back. The amount of love that was in that group was just unbelievable, you know, and it's something that I knew I could depend on for the next stage of my rehab. I'm quite impressed with how well Sebastian's rebounded and healed. He's taking everything on with a positive attitude. Airball. And he hasn't had complications. And so from that perspective, he's doing quite well. Oh, yeah. Dr. Sean Smith oversees Sebastian's rehab. I mean, it's noticeably stronger. He still has a really long way to go, though. Here, what I really find, besides the physical progress, is the mental progress. Like, I really feel confident getting up here and doing these things. Show off. So motivating to keep moving forward. Jeez. I think the hardest injury for Sebastian to overcome is going to be the left ankle and foot. It's that he has severe nerve damage, and we can't predict when somebody's going to be walking, or in Sebastian's case, you know, shooting a jump shot. Today's the big going home party. It's been a while in the making. I haven't seen Seb in three and a half months. Yo! What's up, man? It's good to see you. Look at you. You know what I'm going to do for you? What? Hold on, stay right there. All right, come on. What's up? I can't reach you now. This is going to be the first time you step foot into your house. Yeah. I mean, just describe how you're feeling. When you're so close to death, those are things that seem so far away. Now that it's there, you're like, dang it, I did it. You're like a couple hours away. Like, I really did it. I know you got to pack, right? No, I'm already mentally I've been packed for a while. At the University of Michigan, Sebastian was aided by over 15 dedicated teammates who helped him take his first steps. And three, two, one. I'm extremely grateful for all the people that have helped me in the past and still currently involved in healing me. You bond to them because they're part of your rebuilding. All right. You know darn well that you're not walking out with this. Come on. All right. That's where we're going. This is the game time. All right. This is it, man. I'm so happy that he lived, obviously, and he's doing so well, but to have to kind of start over a little bit, it's like, whoa. No more hospitals for a long time. Being in the hospital in Belgium for so long, you do have to find motivation. And the image I always had was being home. So actually, pulling up on June 23rd, and I seen the girls. Welcome home, Papa! It was like it came full circle. Oh my God. Sebastian may be home, but there's no escape from what he's been through. And just three weeks later, he gets a sobering reminder. The French president, Francois Hollande, has been briefed about what is happening right now in Nice. Dozens of people, including several children, were killed when the driver of a truck plowed... This is unbelievable. It's tragic. It's why this cycle of hate and viciousness needs to stop. The 32 people that died in Brussels, I think about them all the time. I think I've suffered from post-traumatic stress. But I tried to defeat it with all the other great things that are happening. My turn! No, no. No, no. Take care. Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Watch the speed limit, OK? One, two, three. For the first time since the attack, Sebastian is able to retake the court where he once played in college. After 234 days, he's finally back on his feet. There's not a thing that can stop me now. Making the most out of his second shot at life. I love life, you know, and it's been good to me. During rehabilitation, Sebastian Bellen set a goal of running the Brussels Marathon. He fulfilled that goal by completing the 26-mile race in 2018. When beloved family patriarch Gary Ferris went missing, His family looked everywhere on their property until they came across something horrifying. It's a homicide. Absolutely. The blame game in this family went round and round. This is Blood is Thicker, the Ferris wheel. I don't see how anyone can look at this story and think they were happy. 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