Brussells Bombing with Elder Empey

 

Joseph Dresden Empey still carries around a physical reminder of the bombing attack on theBrussels airport on March 22.

Pieces of shrapnel that were never removed from his legs and burn wounds from the blasts are daily echoes of the tragic event that killed at least 31 people and injured more than 300.

And while the 20-year-old Mormon missionary may still be recovering from his injuries, he is anything but hesitant to talk about what happened. Rather, going through the experience, which he says he often thinks about, has become a way for him to help share his faith with other people.

“Just seeing all the support I received felt like it helped people come together as a community,” Empey said. “It’s kind of part of my story and it’s an interesting story to share with people.”

Empey’s story begins about two years ago when he was assigned to a Paris, France, mission, a trip he said he hadn’t been nervous about taking.

The Santa Clara native’s mission assignment also covered the northern half of France, the southern half of Belgium and Luxemburg, meaning Empey lived in about five different cities between rotations. He had been in Belgium about three months before the attack. According to Empey, he had been “super excited” to make the transition to Brussels.

On the day of the terror attacks, Empey’s mission president had asked him and two other missionaries — his companion Mason Wells of Sandy and Richard Norby of Lehi — to take a fourth missionary, Fanny Rachel Clain of Montélimar, France, to the Brussels airport.

After picking up Clain from the train station and driving with her to the airport, the group made their way to the departures terminal to print out Clain’s boarding pass. A faulty boarding pass kiosk forced the missionaries to wait in line for help getting Clain checked in.

The group had been standing together at the back of the line for less than a minute when the first blast went off.

“I was probably the third farthest away,” Empey said. “My left side was facing the blast and all I remember from the blast is feeling lots of pressure and my vision went bright orange.”

That was enough to knock Empey unconscious, during which time the second blast took place — Empey believes he was unconscious for less than a minute.

When he regained consciousness, his ears were ringing and the scene before him had completely changed. He remembers the room being smoky and dark with ceiling panels covering the floor. Once he was able to stand up, Empey came to the conclusion that he had most likely witnessed a terror attack — a realization he said began to scare him.

But a need to find the other missionaries forced him to push past that and escape the airport interior where people, both injured and unconscious, were scattered across the floor.

He found Wells outside the airport doors where a woman was helping him with his injuries, which included burns on his hands, chest, arms and face as well as anAchilles tendon injury from shrapnel. Empey found Norby about 30 feet away where he was lying on the sidewalk after suffering burns and shrapnel wounds.

It was only after finding the two other missionaries that Empey began to feel pain in his legs making him realize his injuries were more serious than he had previously thought.

During the next few hours Empey, Wells and Norby were taken to the hospital along with Clain who also had shrapnel wounds and burns on her body. It was at the hospital that Empey was able to contact his parents. According to his mother, Amber Empey, he wrote them every Monday and the call was the first time they had spoken since Christmas.

“Initially we were like, this is crazy, he was in a terrorist attack but he’s OK, we’re so thankful,” Amber said. “When he sent pictures then that’s when we realized he was more injured than he let on.”

Joseph Empey’s sister Isabelle said hearing about the previous attacks in Paris had been “nerve-racking” but she hadn’t expected a similar incident to happen in an area where her brother was.

“The odds that he was at the airport during that time was pretty crazy,” Isabelle said.

Joseph went into surgery soon afterward and three days later both of his parents came to visit.

He had been about three months away from completing his mission but his injuries meant he had to return home to Utah to receive medical care at the University of Utah Hospital where Wells was also being treated. Joseph was released from the hospital on April 5.

Joseph said he had originally thought his injuries would be minor enough that he could recover in Brussels and continue with his mission. He said it was initially hard for him when he found out he would instead have to return home.

Joseph now plans to start working at his father’s doctor’s office during the summer before starting classes at Dixie State University.

He still has a large wound near his knee where shrapnel was pulled out and he visits a wound clinic three times a week. He expects to follow up with physical therapy and said he is no longer in pain.

“I’m really glad he didn’t take a turn for the worse,” said family friend Max Mouritsen. “It’s just really nice to see the whole community come together for Joe.”

Empey said he still stays in contact with the three other missionaries.

According to the latest update from the LDS Church, Norby returned to the U.S. where he was admitted to the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City to recover from burns and shrapnel wounds.

Clain is expected to resume her missionary service in the U.S. once she recovers from her injuries, which were considered to be less serious. According to a report from The Associated Press, Wells has returned home after a month in the hospital.

Wells was greeted at his home in Sandy on Thursday afternoon by dozens of friends and family members who decorated the neighborhood with yellow ribbons, the AP reported.

“It’s awesome being home and seeing all the friends and family I haven’t seen in two years,” Empey said. “I missed Utah a lot — the landscape, the people but I miss Europe a lot, too; it’s bittersweet in that way but I’m enjoying being home.”