Maryland Man’s Near-Death Experience: Surviving the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

TFD – Delve into Larry DeSantis’ incredible survival story during the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland. Experience the tense moments leading to his escape from tragedy. Understand the impact of bridge collapses on public safety and infrastructure. Stay informed about measures to prevent similar incidents and protect commuters’ lives on bridges.

On March 26, shortly after one in the morning, Larry DeSantis was on his way to his second job, which was at Herman’s Bakery in the Baltimore region. It was the midpoint of another long but typical workday.

That day resulted in a startling near-death experience when a ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, precipitating its devastating collapse.

According to DeSantis, he may have been among the last persons to leave the bridge prior to the fatal incident. He remembered his drive across, “focusing on the guys on the bridge” and making an effort to drive cautiously around them, in an interview with CNN.

In all honesty, I barely even noticed the ship. I just paid attention to what was in front of me.

What DeSantis characterized as a dearth of vehicles, even that early in the morning, was the sole clue something was up.

“I was followed by one other car,” he remarked. “I got in front of him right as we started to go over the bridge, so it was a tractor, but he didn’t have a trailer.”

Though the video is not very clear, traffic camera footage from the last five minutes prior to the crash appears to show a car that might match DeSantis’ vehicle and timing with what looks to be a trailerless truck following.

At 1:29 a.m., the 984-foot container ship impacted one of the bridge’s pillars after only six additional automobiles had passed through that lane. DeSantis’ tale was initially published by The Baltimore Banner.

People and cars were thrown into the icy Patapsco River by the collapse. Following the incident, six workers who were patching potholes on the bridge were reported missing; two of their bodies have subsequently been found. We assume the other four are deceased.

“I probably wouldn’t be here today if I had stopped and talked to somebody, my coworker, for a minute,” DeSantis stated.

DeSantis’ other employer called him a few minutes after he crossed the bridge to see how he was doing.

“After maybe two minutes, I received a call asking, ‘Where are you?'” That was my second calling in life,” he remarked. “Well, you know, the bridge just collapsed,” they responded after I mentioned that I had crossed the bridge.

DeSantis claimed he was hearing things he couldn’t believe.

Once he had gotten to work, he said a coworker told him, “‘I’m glad to see your truck was out there,’ because they thought maybe I might have been on that bridge at the time.”

He almost was.

“The amount of hours I’ve been working has really tired me out, but it really makes you think a lot,” he remarked. “I simply can’t believe it took place. I count myself as quite fortunate.

Having spent his whole childhood in the Baltimore region, DeSantis can only recall one other instance in which he glanced toward the Patapsco River and failed to notice the bridge: “I remember when they were building it,” he recalled.

When the Francis Scott Key first opened in 1977, it catered to 30,000 residents of Maryland every day. Debris has now shut the port, which is the ninth largest in the US for commerce from abroad. Ships are still able to move through the Port of Baltimore, which handled $80.8 billion worth of foreign cargo in 2023, according to the state government — but larger cargo items will have to wait until the bridge debris is cleared.

Officials stated they were getting ready to provide a temporary alternate channel that will enable commercially necessary vessels to reach the port as debris clearing got underway over the weekend.

“By opening this alternate route, we will support the flow of marine traffic into Baltimore,” Capt. David O’Connell, federal on-scene coordinator for the bridge collapse response, said in a news release Sunday.

Now, like many other Marylanders, DeSantis feels the same way when he looks out and sees the river where the monument once stood.

“It’s difficult to accept its absence.”

Zoe Sottile of CNN contributed to this story.

The original account of DeSantis’ story was published by The Baltimore Banner; this has been modified to reflect that.