[MUSIC PLAYING]
There was an explosion--
[BOOM]
--from behind us--
[ALARMS SOUNDING]
--that threw us all to the ground.
I'd lost contact with the missionaries,
but I knew where I was.
Screaming and hollering, and the smoke.
And so I stood up to try and run out with everybody else
to get out of harm's way and found myself
lying facedown on the floor again.
And I realized that my leg was compromised to the point
that I just couldn't move.
And it was at that time that I reached into my pocket
and got my cell phone, and I called Pam.
When I answered the phone and Richard said,
"Pam," I knew instantly that something was wrong.
I could tell by the tone of his voice.
He said, "Listen carefully.
There's been a bombing.
I have burns on my hands and face, and I've broken my leg."
And then he repeated it three times.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There was a thought or a feeling that came to me.
I knew the Lord knew who I was and where I was
and what had just happened and what I was feeling.
It was a thought.
It was an instantaneous impression.
And I also knew that He knew about the people in the airport
and what they were feeling and what had just occurred
and what was happening in their lives.
And the third thing that I knew all in one same,
almost spiritual breath was that the Savior
had suffered for all these injuries and all these feelings
and everything that their family was going to feel.
He had suffered for those.
And so now, with that assurance, I
knew that I could just wait there
and there was nothing to worry about.
I was lying by a young man.
I just saw him with this worried look on his face.
And I, uh--
I gave him a thumbs-up, and I said, "It's going to be OK."
I don't know if he understood the language,
but I heard myself say that it was going to be OK.
And I knew it would be OK.
I knew it would be OK.
When we got to the hospital, they put me into a room
where they could take my vital signs
and get me prepared for surgery.
Mr. Norby was in a terrible condition, I must say.
So he had very severe injuries to both of his lower legs,
with severe muscle injury but also quite significant burns
as well.
And on top of that, he was full of shrapnel that were
dispersed throughout his body.
It was not only the muscle or soft tissue injury.
He had other problems.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I remember them starting to cut my suit off
to prepare me for surgery, and that's
the last thing I can remember.
The doctor and I sat and visited.
And so he had a photograph of Richard's leg at that time.
And I looked at that, and it was half gone.
And so I just thought that they would have to amputate.
The objective was obviously to save both of his legs,
but meanwhile keep him in a stable condition.
[EKG BEEPING]
I was just in shock for a good part of the time,
trying to understand what had happened.
There was a machine breathing for him, and he was intubated.
And I could see his lips and I could see his eyes,
so I knew it was him.
Two of our children had come over two days
after the bombing, and I vaguely remember
being introduced to them.
That was hard to see.
That was difficult to look.
I remember feeling not anger, but more sorrow
that someone I love was in such a state.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Richard became stable, and it wasn't
until four weeks from the bombing
that we were able to return back to Utah.
He arrived here safe and sound, awake,
having a number of tubes removed so that he was actually feeling
a little more like normal.
But he has a long ways to go.
All over one-third of his body was burned.
Nerves had been severed; bones had been fractured.
He was a challenge, and he had a high risk
for potential amputation.
It was just nice to have him home, and especially
for my mom.
It was neat to see her just finally
relieved of that burden of being in a foreign country
with her husband, trying to take care of them
in a different language.
That was a big relief.
When we were at the burn unit at the University of Utah
hospital, I just had the idea come
to mind that I needed to talk to the grandchildren about this
because their minds are impressionable.
And maybe, somewhere in the depths of their mind,
they were thinking that this isn't fair.
The biggest thing that stuck with me
was what my grandpa said, I think the first thing
he said: "I don't blame God for what has happened."
We have to go through life having complete trust in God
and faith in the Savior.
It was so good for my kids to hear
that if there's one person you can trust in those hard times,
it is God.
He's not going to be the one that leaves you.
Hold on tight to Him, and don't blame Him.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
When the doctor said that my legs were good as they were
and that we were just going to rehabilitate and get
stronger and go through those sessions several times a week,
I was excited.
I had some goals in mind that kept me motivated,
and one of them was to play Frisbee with our grandchildren.
One of them was to walk around Temple Square unaided.
I just wanted to do simple things that became monumental
for me, so that was what I focused on.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
That day he was discharged from the hospital,
it was surreal to think that we have
gone, in the span of just a few months,
from wondering if he's going to even survive to being
discharged from the hospital.
Been waiting for this for a long time.
There was a time when we invited he and my mom out for dinner.
And he had to come in through the garage
because the stairs were easier.
And he was on his hands and knees,
and he had to crawl up the stairs to get into the house.
Ta-da.
Yeah.
OK.
All right.
He progressed to a walker, and then it was to a little cane,
I believe.
And then finally, he just, one day,
was able to get out of the car and walk up the front stairs
and in through the front door.
Woo!
It was an awkward walk, as some might look at it,
but it was--it was a 100-meter dash for me.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Temple Square has been my favorite spot on earth.
So on that eight-month mark, we drove down to Salt Lake.
She got me into the wheelchair.
We walked up to Temple Square, and I said, "This is the day."
I walked all the way around, and then to celebrate,
she took me to dinner.
So that was a monumental day for us to be able to do that.
Now I knew I could do whatever I needed to do.
That was the catalyst.
It had to be incremental, and I couldn't leapfrog over
the basics.
I had to go through the basics to get to where I am today.
I know there's lots of people--countless people--that
have greater limitations than I have,
but I only know what I've gone through.
And that's my celebration.
That's what I've gone through.
[ENGINE SCREECHING]
The thing I look forward to most about seeing the doctors is
just to be able to express, with some measure,
my gratitude to them--just to thank them for the service they
gave us along with all the other patients and wounded victims
of that day.
Richard.
Very good to see you again.
[INAUDIBLE]
Good to see you.
It gives me a real positive feeling
to see him again, to see him in good health and good spirits
as well, and also to meet him and the rest of his family,
of course.
[APPLAUSE]
The pure fact that Richard takes the time and effort
to come all the way from the United States
to this hospital here in Belgium to meet not only me,
but the whole staff, makes it worthwhile
being a doctor and being part of this wonderful hospital team.
[INAUDIBLE]
Nice to meet you again.
You've changed.
You have hair now.
[LAUGHTER]
1, 2, 3, 4.
I really feel that, despite all that we've gone through,
I have been blessed--we have been blessed--beyond measure.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The state he was in the first time I saw him,
I would never think he would be where he's at now.
23, 24.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
That's it.
I think that a lot of this has to do with his faith.
It's so wonderful to see him get his life back
and to smile and to continue in that course
that I'm sure he already knew was going to happen,
but it wasn't clear at all to the rest of us.
One of the great lessons I was learning
was that the Lord's will has to become our will.
We have to come to the point to give the Savior His victory.
Sometimes we fight against that because we want our victory.
We want the way things used to be.
We want it our way.
But to get us from where we are to where we need to be
takes a lot of stretch and growth.
And He puts us through difficulty
so that He can get us where He wants us to be.
I know that the Lord is aware of what's happening to us
and what happened to us at that time.
And I put my trust in Him, and I was fully aware
that He was in control.
Once I audibly told Him that "whatever you want to do,
whatever your plan is, I'm OK with that."
And as hard as that was to say it out loud,
it was a turning point for me to know
that His love for His children is something
beyond what we can comprehend.
It's been a miraculous, miraculous journey because
of the mercy of the Lord.
[MUSIC PLAYING]