This week, WTOP’s team coverage of “The Key Bridge, One Year Later” revisits an unthinkable, tragic collapse that sent shockwaves around the nation and forever changed the face of Baltimore.
Around 1:27 a.m. on March 26, 2024, Larry DeSantis, 68, was heading to his bakery job as he does every morning at that time.
He would cross over the Patapsco River on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which he said he loved to cross because of the view it provided of the city.
While crossing, he recalls seeing construction workers hard at work, which he said you would see frequently when crossing at that time in the morning.
For DeSantis, the drive was like most others, seemingly uneventful. However, before getting to the bakery, a colleague called him.
“She said, ‘The bridge got hit,’ and I said, ‘Well, I just went over the bridge,’” DeSantis recalled of the phone call.
Having ended the call, DeSantis said he figured whatever happened didn’t involve much damage. As such, he made his way to the bakery to get the work day underway.
A couple hours later, he recalled, a customer arrived concerned about him.
“She said, ‘I’m so glad that your truck’s out there. You know that you’re here because the bridge collapsed,'” DeSantis said.
Growing curious about the events, it was then that DeSantis decided to pull out his phone and watch footage of the container ship striking the bridge. “That’s when it really hit me,” DeSantis said.
Moments later, he would receive a call from his concerned wife, who called him after police called her to see if he made it across the bridge after his truck was spotted on security camera.
One year later, staring at the large gap left in the bridge from Fort Armistead Park in Baltimore, Maryland, DeSantis said it’s still hard to accept the reality of what took place.
“It’s still hard to believe. It’s hard to believe it’s a year already,” DeSantis said.
He said in the days and months since the tragedy, he thinks about the six people who lost their lives that day.
“I just wish they could have gotten them off, you know, when they seen it (the ship) coming quicker,” DeSantis said.
He also thinks about the bridge itself, as it held a special place in his heart — he recalls as a kid fishing under it and crossing it countless times during his life.
“I used to love going over that bridge, the scene … it’s beautiful, you see the ships coming and going, you see the skyline, the city line there and everything,” he said.
DeSantis said he has made one change: He quit the job that required crossing the bridge.
“It really hasn’t changed me a whole lot, other than I just don’t want to commute anymore that far, because it takes a lot longer,” he said.
He said what took place hasn’t changed his view on life, or changed the way he lives it.
“I look at it is when it’s your time, it’s your time, and you just got to do it, you know, live your life. I mean, my outlook,” he said.
He did admit the tragedy now has him looking closer than before at what might be crossing under a bridge. “If I see a ship coming towards the bridge, I might think differently,” he said.
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