Live to Tell: The Long Road Home

Just then, something ripple 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 dad's doing. [MUSIC]

You just can't picture. Not being part of their life. You can't picture not being there for them. So see if monsters are very real. Or they are not.

Then it's our monster's real. No, no. Are you sure? [MUSIC] That monster's real.

[MUSIC] Are you sure? Are you sure?

Not many people get to pinpoint that specific point in their life

when you don't, your life changed. [MUSIC] I'm sick and I got to make it. I got to make it. I got to make it.

I got to see my daughters again. I got to see my girls. [MUSIC] The whole time you're fixated on that one thing. You don't want to let any negative thoughts.

Since you're my dad all. You're about to die. [MUSIC]

“I can remember just fixating on a point in the ceiling,”

and just be like, okay, now they're not going to give me. [MUSIC] The power of an explosion, it just shatters everything. It not only broke my bone, but it exploded my muscle tissues around my bones. You have life kind of like pulled a rug right from under youth.

[MUSIC] I knew that I had an advantage during the attack. [MUSIC] I played 15 years professional. Any athlete has to push their limits.

[MUSIC] There are 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. [MUSIC] 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 Sicilian Vanessa again. [MUSIC] And so that became my motivation really throughout them. [MUSIC]

It was my two little girls. [MUSIC] 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.

[MUSIC] I had no fear.

I've 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 business man 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, maybe you're six, nine, you can't play soccer. [MUSIC] First, he played at Maris College in New York. And then transferred to Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Where he met his wife, Sarah.

[MUSIC] After marrying, they relocated to Europe. Where Sebastian continued his basketball career playing professionally. [MUSIC] He was a spirited guy.

[MUSIC] And come on, guys, we can do this. [MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

So we were living a good life.

I mean, it was fun. And then little sister came along in 2008. [MUSIC] You're gonna have a little sister to take care of. And in 2012, Vanessa came along.

[MUSIC] You come home to your daughters at 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. [MUSIC] 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, Sierra, let's be realistic.

What's the likelihood of something happening? [MUSIC] Sebastian flew out. It was the sixth 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're making and he loves carrot cake.

[MUSIC] Sebastian was heading to Brussels on yet another business trip. But this time, he was traveling during an especially dangerous period. [MUSIC] Four months earlier, terrorists killed 130 people.

And wounded more than 350 in the worse, terrorist attack in Paris history. The atmosphere in Brussels was tense. [MUSIC] 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 attack were arrested in the outskirts of Brussels. So I really feel that the days leading up to March 22.

I started getting gut feelings. You're not safe. [MUSIC]

“I remember being at a restaurant with my good friends.”

And there was a lot of talk about what are the consequences of these arrests. [MUSIC] And the restaurant had huge glass windows overlooking the street. And I remember thinking if terrorists decide to go down the street and start shooting up with this restaurant, there's no way to hide.

The last time I spoke with him was via text. And he was just heading to bed. He was already really late there. Sebastian was flying home. And then we were spending the long weekend the Easter weekend together as a family.

[MUSIC] 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 9.10 or something like that. So not a lot of time to check in.

So I run to the checking counter. Get my boarding pass. I was one of the last ones to check in. Whilst Sebastian was checking in at 755. Three members of an ISIS cell.

With ties to the Paris attacks, we're entering the airport. Each one pushing luggage containing a bomb. [MUSIC] There's not a worry on my mind. Everything's right.

And then in with the in a span of three minutes. [MUSIC] My life changes. [MUSIC] 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 that a bomb went off.

You want to run towards the gate where there's policeman 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 have to decide do I run outside. Or do I run towards the gates. And I ran towards the gates. [MUSIC]

When death is right in front of you, you get a lot of clarity. [MUSIC] Because the things that flash in front of you are all the things that you would regret if you died at that moment. [MUSIC]

“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 escape something.

But then yeah, the second one caught me.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] The violence of an explosion just rocks you, it projects you forward. [MUSIC] For two or three seconds, you don't know what hits you.

[MUSIC]

“All I know is I was coming to my senses.”

I'm leaning on one side and I knew I needed help. So 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 going to 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 looked down at my hip. I just have bone and flesh sticking out from just underneath my belt.

So then I started seeing about my legs and I could just see the pools of blood already around both legs. I'm just so focused on the instincts of survival. So I didn't realize there was a photographer taking my picture. I saw many passengers with their legs blown up. The photographer was Kada Van Cardova, 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 called them my photo heroes.

It was very terrible to realize what has happened. There's 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 going to die."

In the morning, I'd always go to his account to see if 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 the scarf as well on the ground.

I could see also how much blood I was losing.

“And so I immediately witnessed this 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, "I got to get an ambulance." And they were all like, "No, no, you 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 conscious. This is on you." And finally, they pushed me to the front of the airport. And I remember the push about a few seconds later, but firemen come around the corner and they pick up.

I remembered 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 out of the news?”

How am I going to get my girls and 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. Okay? Well, he's hurt. So how hurt is he? By now, cut a van, seen here at the airport, started posting about the attack on social media.

And first photo I posted, it was for top Sebastian.

For me, it was most important to show everyone

as many say as a face of terrorism. And I immediately went to Facebook because that's where the news is. Luckily, and I saw the photo of Sebastian, you know, lying on the ground.

“And I remember I was screaming with tear,”

you know, and because he was down on the ground. And just thinking about he could have died or is there still 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 on a sleep, and I don't remember anything after that.

In my mind, it was the worst case in our year. Two hours after the bombings. Sebastian Bellen finally made it into the operating room of Dr. Dmitriell's coolawas. When you have patients coming out of an explosion,

you cannot always find immediately the injuries.

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 multifragment at many fragments. All these are pieces of bone, and the fibula was broken as well. Dr. Koolawas and his team spent four hours stabilizing the fractures with the 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 AM, that same morning,

another suicide bomber attacked the Malbex subway station in the heart of Brussels.

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 to 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 was 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, you know, your spouse. You know, when you can tell if they're okay or not. So, I may be calm 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'd I get through this? I would have signed, you know, on the dotted line and 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.

I can't do that today. He and his dad are really close. Oh, no. He got to give me all that stuff after all. 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 rapping, tying up here.”

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 give back to where I was before. Well, I'm in the hospital, but 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 is increased throughout Belgium. The man hunt for the terrorist is intense. In the suburbs of Brussels, police arrest some of those involved in the bombings,

including the key player, Mahameda Burini, the man with the hat. Where are you going now? To the hospital. To the hospital? No, the hospital.

Hospital. Hospital. Hospital. Who are you going to see? Yes.

“It's unbelievable to think that I was very close and ever seeing them again.”

They're just walking to the room and having this great. How would you do? I think kids need to touch. You know, they need to be present. Come here.

Come here. Why are you afraid? You think you're going to hurt me? 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. Face time's great. But to see the actual cast and touch it, you know, they see that their dad is getting better. You know, he's healing. So, what happened to Puppas?

Why did Puppas hurt his leg? He probably learned the bad guy. Because the bad guys? Why did the bad guys do the Puppas?

Hey, hit me? Sorry.

“And then the leg was broken because it hit me.”

But where are the bad guys?

Okay. So, we're all good, right? I'm very happy to see you. Tough boy. Tough boy.

Why do you say tough boy? I'm strong. I'm strong. 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. 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.”

What do you want? All right. They're taking me. They're going to put a pin through my knee. Which will solidify the tibia.

I'll be honest in a bit. 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. 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.

In a lot of ways, the country itself.

“Follow and listen to gone south season five,”

an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. It's amazing. This is the sort of shrapnel. Those are my legs.

I came out. Good riddance. You have the operation involved. I'm just happy it's the last one. Hopefully, you know, it's 6th one, 6th and final one.

It's amazing just seeing both of the legs.

I've seen both my legs just almost bear like this in two months. Nothing is taking for granted anymore. [Music] When you survive something like this,

there's not a long single minute. Where you don't see here, and completely gratefulness. [Music] I thought pretty hard to get here. And it's almost like it's full circle.

[Music] 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. [Music]

I might have all the birthday presents I need. There was some of my life, but don't tell me like that. [Music]

This is the first time I've been out of the hospital

really since the attacks. [Music] The trip is to a Brussels basketball arena where Seb is heading the Chiron one of his old teams, as they root for his recovery.

This was all for four seasons. Some good memories here. [Music]

Thank you very much for supporting me.

[Applause] I did the jump ball.

“You know, I have cord and see basically, you know,”

4,000 seat arena, just give me a standing ovation. [Music] Watching guys that I played with. [Music] And so to see, it was difficult.

[Applause] I still don't know whether I will be ever able to do sports like I was before. [Music] You know, it depends how I heal. [Music]

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? Stop. One, two, three.

[Music] It's so great. It's more good. Perfect. [Music]

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. [Music] I love him. Still much. [Music]

For me to be present again and for me to be,

you know, your university mission is an hour away from our house. So it's a step closer that we would have come visit. Love him so much. [Music] Tall, strong, and big.

[Music] [Music] It's about four in the morning. [Music] It's a big day.

So long. [Music]

“It's a huge step because you kind of go from”

getting fixed to now recovery and getting back to my old self. And that to me is the biggest challenge because will I be able to get back to my old self? Who knows? But you know, I'm definitely going to try.

[Music] I'm flying out of Amsterdam to go back to Detroit. Obviously, Brussels Airport to me is where it all happened. I just want to go back there. You know, I mean, I'm still there still vivid images of the attack

in my mind. [Music] I just want to wake anything up. [Music] [Music]

Now. [Music] You're good? That's good. I'm just going to take off.

[Music] I wanted that the flight to obviously go well. I was concerned about how he would be feeling if he'd be uncomfortable. [Music] Oh.

Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty good. I was trying to get as many people who could come to be there. And he had no idea.

We're ready. We're bursting. Okay. [Music] I'm just waiting for CC in Vita, run to me.

Three months in the making for one time. [Music] But what I wanted to do was not to get the most of the students. The masterball tag left for Bücher soft behind the internet. It's a master's.

I'm so sorry. You can tell that you're right. Yeah, you're right. But you won't believe it. You won't.

And if you're working, you'll be able to catch it.

That's right. Save. You're going to get your money. Now you're going to try it. [Music]

Oh, no. What's wrong? You're going to get your money. No, no. I'm already in the mood for the month.

Just a hotel. It's a hotel. [Music] 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.”

[Music] And I see all my family that are there. [Music] All of a sudden, it's just... It's the realization that the toughest is behind you.

[Music] The road is still long. But you've got all these people that got you back. The amount of love I 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. [Music] I'm quite impressed with how well Sebastian's rebounded and healed. He's taking everything on with a positive attitude.

[Music] And he hasn't had complications. And so from that perspective he's doing quite well. I am. Dr. Sean Smith oversees Sebastian's rehab.

I mean, it's noticeably stronger. He still has a really long way to go though. [Music] Here, when I really find, besides the physical progress is the mental progress.

I really feel confident getting up here and doing these things. [Music] So I'm off. So motivating to keep moving forward. [Music]

“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 is going to be walking or in Sebastian's case, you know, shooting a jump shot. [Music]

Today's the big going home party. It's been a while in the making. I've been seeing seven, three and a half months. Yeah. [Music]

Oh, what's up, man? It's good to look at you. Oh, you're going to do for you? What? All right, come on.

[Music] I can't reach you now, man.

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.

Right. You're like, "I put it on the way." Like, I really did it. I know you got to pack, right? No, I'm already, you got to go.

Mentally, I've been packed for a while. [Laughing] At the University of Michigan,

“Sebastian was aided by over 15 dedicated teammates”

who helped him take his first steps. And three, two, one. [Music] I'm extremely grateful for all the people that have helped me in the past and still currently involved in healing me.

You, you bond to them because they're part of your rebuilding. [Music] All right. You don't learn well, but you're not walking out with this, come on.

[Laughing] That's what we're doing. This is the game time. This is it, man. [Music]

I'm so happy that he lived obviously. He's doing so well, but to have to kind of start over a little bit. It's like, "Oh." [Music]

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've seen the girls. [Music] It was like a painful circle. Oh my god.

[Laughing] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughing]

[Music] [Laughing] [Music] [Laughing] [Music]

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 for so long has been”

brief about what is happening right now in peace. Those ones of people, including several children,

more killed when the driver of a truck cloud.

This is unbelievable. It's tragic. [Music] It's why the 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 it tried to defeat it with all the other great things that are happening. Watch the speed limit, okay?

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 Bellon sent a goal of running the Brussels marathon, EFA filled 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 Bloodesticker, the Ferris Wheel. I would don't see how anyone can look at this story and think they were happy.

Bloodesticker, the Ferris Wheel, is available on Amazon Music. Follow the show on Amazon Music for more future episodes.