Grateful Father Reflects On Blast That Injured Son

WEST (CBSDFW.COM) - One day after a deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, some Texans are realizing how they skirted the line between life and death. Bryan Anderson broke down while talking to a CBS 11 News crew.

Wednesday night Anderson was about 400 yards from the West Fertilizer plant when it blew up. Facing your own mortality is one thing, but Anderson's 9-year-old son was sitting beside him in his pickup.

"God wants me here for a reason," the grateful father said. "I just got to find out what that is now."

Anderson fully admits that he and his son are lucky to be alive. "Adrenaline took over.  I asked him [son], 'Can you feel everything?' He said, 'I can't see dad. But I can feel my arms. I can feel my legs.' Alright, I said, 'I'm just fixin' to keep driving until we can get to a safe point.'"

Young Kayden is Anderson's son. Thursday he was at home recovering. A photo snapped of the 9-year-old at the hospital shows him with his face bloodied and bruised and his eyes swollen nearly shut.

At the time of the blast the father and son were sitting in the truck, in between an apartment complex and a nursing home. To understand the force of the impact in that area – both the apartments and nursing home were destroyed.

"Then when got to the hospital… we were watching people die," Anderson said horrified.

Bryan Anderson has lived in West all his life. He owns a local restaurant in town and says his heart breaks for the victims and their families. "The people that weren't as lucky as we," he said as his voice faded. "We were truly blessed. And there's [sic] a lot of people who aren't."

Anderson said his focus will be on those who aren't at home recovering and those who will never go home again. "Pray for them. That's all we can."

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