A basketball player who was seriously injured in the terror attack on Zaventem airport in Brussels has spoken for the first time.
Sebastien Bellin suffered major leg and hip damage in the explosion at the airport on Tuesday when suicide bombers detonated bombs in the departure lounge.
At least 11 people were killed in the two explosions which were soon followed by 20 more deaths in another blast at the Maelbeek Metro station in the centre of the city around an hour later.
Speaking to Good Morning America from his hospital bed, the 37-year-old said all he could think about was seeing his family again.
The Brazilian-born player said: “I remember seeing the first explosion in the pharmacy at the airport and I turned my head and I could see all these people running.
“I sort of blacked out for a little bit but I remember seeing two little kids to my right and their little hands were up in the air and the whole time I was trying to tell myself ‘I’ve got to make it through this, I’ve got to make it through this’”.
Attempting to hold back tears he said “I just didn’t want my girls to grow up without a dad”.
He said he “knew he was going to make it” when he got into the ambulance and he will “live to fight another day”.
He added that he had just started playing tennis with his eldest daughter and he wanted to get better “because she needs her coach”.
Bellin, who plays for Belgian team Gent Hawks, was traveling between his base in the country and the home he shares with his wife and two children in western Michigan.
Nearly 200 people were injured in the double attack on the city which has been claimed by Isis.
The terror group released a statement saying it was in revenge for Belgium’s participation in the coalition air strikes against their positions in Syria and Iraq.
