Bellin speaks after terrorist attacks

He said he saw an explosion.  He blacked out. And when he came to, he told himself he was going to make it.

Now, Sebastien Bellin will “fight another day.”

On Thursday, Bellin spoke for the first time since being injured in the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, in an interview from his hospital bed with ABC’s Good Morning America. Bellin played for the Marist College men’s basketball team from 1996-98 — his freshman and sophomore seasons.

At the end of his sophomore year he transferred to Oakland University in Michigan, then played professionally for the Belgian-based Gent Hawks as well as Belgium's BC Telenet Oostende. He now works for a video editing company in Belgium called Keemotion.

Through the entire ordeal, Bellin was thinking of his wife and kids back in Michigan.

Marist community comes together in support of Bellin

“I didn’t want my girls to grow up without a dad, you know?” he told Good Morning America. “I talked to my wife, I think she’s getting here tomorrow. It’s funny how many things you think of.”

The thought of playing tennis with his 7-year-old daughter was one of many thoughts that crossed his mind.

“I started playing tennis with my oldest one, my 7-year-old. She’s a hell of a tennis player,” Bellin told Good Morning America. “I’ve got to get through this, you know, because she needs her coach. Some of the things that go through your head, and they seem so trivial, but it gets you through those moments.”

Bellin, 37, was one of more than 230 people injured in the attack, which also killed at least 30 people. Dave Magarity, Bellin’s coach from his Marist days, described him as “a very good kid” on Wednesday. Magarity’s former assistant coach George Siegrist also knew Bellin and said, “It’s just sad to see something like that happen to a good kid.”

A.J. Martelli: amartelli@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4836, Twitter: @AJM_PoJoSports