All four of the LDS missionaries injured in the bombings at the Brussels airport Tuesday are recovering. One of those missionaries has now witnessed several terror attacks.
Family members say that at 19 years old, Mason Wells has now experienced three terror attacks. In 2013 he and his family were a block away from bombs that detonated at the Boston Marathon finish line. He was also living in Paris during the terror attacks in November.
Wells’ cousin Lauren Kitchens says he escaped injury in those two events, but he suffered burns his face and hands. He also had surgery yesterday to repair his Achilles tendon which was severed by shrapnel. He’s expected to make a full recovery.
“He is nothing but grateful about his wounds and lack of further wounds,” Kitchens says. “He feels very blessed that more wasn’t done to him, which incredible because a lot happened to him.”
She says in the chaos that followed the bombings at the airport, Wells gave a priesthood blessing to another victim even though he was dealing with his own injuries.
“It just shows his strength and his selflessness that he was able to focus on someone else when he was obviously in a lot of pain as well,” she says.
Wells and two other Utah missionaries, 66-year-old Richard Norby and 20-year-old Joseph Empey, had just dropped off a fourth missionary, 20-year-old Fanny Clain of France, at the airport when the bombs went off. All four were hospitalized, the three missionaries from Utah had burns and shrapnel injuries but are expected to recover. Norby has been placed in a medically-induced coma following surgery. His family says they expect a lengthy recovery.
