Encounter with terror

Dear Editor,

March 22, 2016 is a day that Fanny Clain will remember forever.

At age 20, she was leaving her home on Reunion Island of the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. She had filled out her papers to become a Mormon missionary and traveled to Brussels, Belgium

Richard Norby, a 66-year-old Mission President, drove her to the Brussels airport. Two other young missionaries, Mason Wells and Joseph Empey, accompanied them.

Fanny showed the ticket agent her passport and was in the process of paying for her flight to New York City and to Provo, Utah. She was headed to the Missionary Training Center.

Suddenly, terrorists -- suicide bombers -- detonated a bomb. It is believed that they were targeting Americans.

Norby, Wells and Empey were all injured and rushed to the hospital.

Fanny was knocked to the ground by the blast. Doctors of the hospital treated her for third degree burns. One of her ears was badly injured. She now has a 40 percent hearing loss and may have to undergo surgery to correct the problem.

Shrapnel entered various parts of her body. A wound in her hip still bothers her. She has to wear a glove on her right hand, because of scar tissue. Lotions must be applied to her arm.

The summer of 2016 is a happy time for Fanny Clain. She is a missionary in Kirtland, Ohio. She is trying to master the English language, but has a French accent.

Richard Norby, who was the most seriously injured of the group, is still recovering in Lehi, Utah.

Americans have strengthened security in the U.S. However, terrorists have attacked without hesitation in spite of these measures.

Belgium and France are also taking special precautions.

Terrorism seems to have become a way of life in the 21st century.

Twenty-two years ago while traveling to Israel and Egypt, I was in the DeGaul Airport in Paris.

Security guards were on high alert.

They were watching people who did not have passports. Some of them had lived in the airport three years.

Bomb threats also were a concern.

Sincerely,

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Neb.