RadioOnFire.com - There were a number of Americans inside the terminal at the Belgium airport who were injured and traumatized by the recent bombing, including a Reisterstown man.
"When the bomb went off, it just went black," witness Brian Stanley said.
Stanley's first trip to Europe ended in the most tragic of ways. As a martial arts instructor, he had spent four days before the Brussels terror attacks teaching self-defense techniques to police officers.
He and one of his fellow students were supposed to fly home Monday, but got bumped to Tuesday for a luggage issue. It was when the two were waiting in line to check in when the first blast went off.
"Over my left shoulder when he looked up this way was when the first bomb went off, that moment keeps playing over and over in my mind," Stanley said.
Stanley managed to capture photos and video and said the next few moments were absolute chaos.
"I'm panning left to right and I'm seeing a female with blood over her face. There were several people on the ground. One gentleman was missing part of his leg," Stanley said.
Stanley and his student were able to make their way outside still shell shocked. He remembers making a phone call .
"I immediately called my family and said, 'I'm going to keep this conversation short. I'm alive. We're OK. I'll call you back when I can,'" Stanley said.
The two men were able to meet up with law enforcement who took them to shelter.
Over the next day or so, they were able to make reservations to leave out of Amsterdam and get back to the states.
Stanley said something an officer told him before he left keeps playing in his mind.
"One of the anti-terrorism officers, she said to me, 'Brian, this is why you see how we live. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, so we love life and we live it,'" Stanley said.
Despite living through this tragedy, Stanley said he's going to continue living his life and will not be deterred. He's even looking forward to another trip to Europe.
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