(NewsNation) — A man who survived a 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis tells NewsNation that watching the scenes coming out of Baltimore makes him sympathize with the victims and survivors in a way few others are capable.
“The feelings began to flood back, you know,” Garrett Ebling told “NewsNation Now.” “Even just watching the footage (it brings back) the heart racing, the body shaking; all that floods back in. I can’t help but think about the survivors, the ones who died and their families as well.”
Ebling said it was rush hour on Aug. 1, 2007, when he suddenly saw everyone’s brake lights begin to simultaneously flash.
“That caused me to look up,” he said. “At that point, I saw all of the cars that were in front of me drop out of view, like what you’d expect to see in a movie.”
Ebling said it was just seconds later his car began to fall “nose first” into the Mississippi River, where he landed into the river and on top of some debris.
“My doctor said that the impact was like driving a car straight into a brick wall at 100 miles per hour,” Ebling said.
“The car was falling headfirst and the airbag didn’t have time to deploy,” he said. “So it was really my face and head that took the primary impact.”
Ebling required multiple facial reconstructive surgeries. He also suffered a collapsed lung, broken arms and legs and additional injuries he wasn’t aware of until weeks later.
“It took a long time to get back on my feet,” Ebling said.
For the survivors of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Ebling said they’re likely to feel a range of emotions for some time. Those emotions, according to Ebling, will need to be talked about for some time.
“I can only imagine that they’re feeling numb and frozen,” he said. “But at the same time, you can feel thankful that you’re still alive. Later on, you might feel guilty because you survived and others, possibly coworkers, did not. They were probably close to them, friends of them. Those people are gone. They may question ‘Why am I here, and my friends aren’t?’”
Recovery efforts resumed Wednesday for the six construction workers who are presumed dead after the Baltimore collapse.
The 2007 Minneapolis collapse killed 13 people and injured 145.
Unlike the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse was caused by a design flaw, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Key Bridge collapsed after a container ship lost power and rammed into the bridge.