BALTIMORE — Watching the Key Bridge collapse is a shocking moment for many. Imagine being one of the last to cross it before the fall.
It started out as a regular commute to work for Larry DeSantis. He’s a head baker at Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk.
The same commute he's been taking for almost 16 years. He was in for a shock when he got to work.
"It felt weird, like eerie, like something in a movie, something is going on,” said DeSantis.
A terrifying moment for DeSantis knowing he was minutes away from being on the Key Bridge when it collapsed.
It was 1:18 in the morning on March 26 when DeSantis left his first job in Pasadena, working two jobs, he was commuting to Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk.
“I got up to the top of the bridge and then there was a bunch of workers there which is pretty normal for that bridge, they are always working on that bridge," said DeSantis.
He got off Key Bridge only to get on another bridge.
"Once I got to Bear Creek Bridge, which is only a couple hundred yards away, they were working on that bridge also,” said Desantis.
Down to one lane, DeSantis said he was extremely focused, but something felt off as he got closer to work. “I’m sitting there at the light and I saw no traffic, no trucks, no nothing and that's right at Amazon where on any given morning, I don't care what day of the week, we usually see 20 or 30 Amazon trucks going up and down the road, there was nothing."
DeSantis said it was 1:42 in the morning when he punched in for work. NTSB said the bridge collapsed at 1:29 a.m.
DeSantis says he's "lucky to be here":
"A little while later, one of the girls came in, she said 'oh I’m so glad to see your truck in the parking lot,' she said cause I heard the bridge collapsed," said DeSantis.
It was an instant moment of shock.
"If I had stopped one minute, I might not be here talking to you right now, when it sinks in, it's scary,” said DeSantis.
Ultimately, he feels someone is watching over him, sending a message, "you have to live your life, and treat people right and do what's right."
DeSantis said he was very focused when heading to work and didn’t actually hear the collapse. As for the commute, now he must take the tunnel which adds about ten minutes if he doesn’t hit traffic.
