Former coach of Brussels bombing victim: 'My heart sank when I saw the photo'
Belgian professional basketball player Sebastien Bellin was among the hundreds injured in Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack in Brussels. This photo of him severly injured, lying in blood at the airport after reportedly being thrown 66 feet in the air was widely circulated in the media.
The photo quickly went viral and made its way Stateside, as Bellin, despite playing for Belgian's BC Oostende, has ties to the U.S. in more ways than one.
We wensen onze ex-speler Sebastien Bellin alvast veel sterkte en een spoedig herstel toe! #PrayForBelgium pic.twitter.com/mR19edbqlT
— BC Telenet Oostende (@BCOOSTENDE) March 22, 2016
For the first two years of his collegiate career, Bellin played at Marist University under head coach Dave Magarity before transferring to Oakland University.
Needless to say, Magarity was stunned when he learned of the photo.
"I found out about it through a former player of mine who's still playing overseas -- Jared Jordan. He texted my son, who was his college teammate," Magarity told FOX Sports on Wednesday. "My heart sank when I saw the photo. At first I didn't know if he survived."
Fortunately, Bellin's injuries aren't considered life-threatening, and he has undergone surgery to improve his condition.
Magarity, who's now the head coach of the women's basketball team at Army, has fond memories of Bellin.
"I recruited him back in 1996. He was a terrific young man -- hard-working kid with a good personality," Magarity told FOX Sports on Wednesday. "I did a visit with him at his home school in Brussels. Then he came in the fall of 1996 as a freshman and I coached him for two years.
"He hadn't played a lot but he was developing and I thought he had a lot of potential," Magarity said.
So when Bellin made the decision to transfer from Marist, Magarity was sad to see him go. He had high hopes for him and believes he could have turned into a great player for the Red Foxes. Though understood the move and believes it was better for his development, and ultimately helped him down the road.
"There were no hard feelings or anything," Magarity said. "I was disappointed when he left but I understood it. If he would have stayed, he would have played more and more as he developed."
Transferring to Oakland helped Bellin give him the chance to sit out and gain an extra year of eligibility.
"He had to redshirt. It really helped him, getting that extra year," Magarity explained. "He played really well in his fourth and fifth seasons there."
Following his collegiate career, Bellin went back overseas, where he still plays professionally.
Though he made it his business to return to the United States. Bellin got in on the ground floor of a company called Keemotion — a technology firm that specialized in automating game film, while also making it more interactive. Bellin would travel back and forth from Europe and the U.S., selling the product to several schools — something Magarity said he was great at.
"They do a lot of video editing of games and practices. He would come over to the States and meet with different schools and actually sold it to a number of universities," Magarity said.
To this day, Magarity and Bellin still keep in touch, and Magarity hopes his former player is able to make a full recovery. Whether he's able to play basketball again remains to be seen, but the former Marist coach has little doubt he'll persevere.
"I heard he's had two surgeries, and that he's out of critical condition, which is great," Magarity said. "He'll find a way to recover from this. I'm not sure if he'll be able to play basketball anymore, but I just hope he can lead a normal life. He's a terrific person."
