By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A local family breathed a sigh of relief when they received a Facebook message Tuesday morning.
“Bombing in Brussels. I’m safe,” the private message read.
Michael Moser, a 2010 Bucyrus High School graduate, sent the message to his mother, Luanne Moser. Michael is currently in a cultural studies graduate program in Leuven, Belgium, roughly 18.5 miles from Brussels. He was due to fly out of Brussels on Wednesday for spring break in Germany.
“When I woke up Tuesday morning, I had a private message on Facebook,” Luanne said. “Thank God I got that message before I saw the news.”
Luanne said she usually listened to WQEL in the mornings and caught the news then. Though the national news came on at its usual time, Luanne was not paying much attention to it at the time and, instead, picked up her phone and checked on the message she received from her son.
“It really freaked me out,” she said.
Michael finally made it to Germany. Luanne said he took a train out of Belgium and flew to Germany Wednesday night.
Luanne added that Michael and his brother, Matthew, a 2008 Bucyrus grad, were also in Paris just before the terrorist attacks took place there.
Luanne and her husband Paul still plan on visiting Michael for three weeks in June. They will travel to Amsterdam then will make stops in Belgium and Paris.
Despite knowing her son has been near to such danger, Luanne was proud of all he has accomplished.
“I can’t believe Michael has done all this,” Luanne said, describing how her son would hop on the high speed trains and travel all throughout Europe. His Facebook feed is littered with pictures of him in Athens, Oslo, Dublin, and Prague.
“He’s very determined. If he wants something, he figures it out,” Luanne said. “He would actually like to get a job there.”