Survivor of two terrorist attacks has a message for his attackers

Mason Wells and his father gathered at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013, cheering from the sidelines as Mason’s mother competed in the annual race.

They were 60 meters from the finish line when the first bomb exploded.

In total, three people would lose their lives and hundreds more would be injured in the attack that day. Fortunately for the Wells family, they emerged physically unscathed from the attack.

It wouldn’t be Mason Wells’ last encounter with terrorism: In March 2016, while on a trip to Brussels, in found himself in Zaventem International Airport when brothers Ibrahim and Khaled el-Bakraoui attacked the city, killing 32 people and injuring about 260 more.

Wells, who was 10 feet from the first bomb to explode in the airport, was among those injured in the attack.

“Being that close left me with really severe injuries,” Wells told Mic. “I had extensive burns to my face and my hands, shrapnel to my head and to my legs, and some blast wounds as well to my lower legs. I was completely incapacitated.”

And in an emotional video op-ed for Mic, the survivor of two terrorist attacks delivered a powerful message to the terrorists that hurt and killed almost 300 people in Brussels that day.

“What you did was evil,” Wells said. “You killed innocent people and you ended meaningful lives.”

He added, “I want you to know that good has come in the wake of your evil acts.”

Wells also recently wrote a book documenting his experience.

In his op-ed, the survivor of two terrorist attacks takes you on his journey towards recovery in the wake of the attack, and shows us all how he learned to forgive the Brussels attackers for their atrocities.