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Barbara starr tonight reports. i am pushing through it every day. it s difficult. to go through the pain. but you have to look forward. for 18-year-old kiani martinez and her brothers and sisters, there is utter devastation beyond the pain of burnt shrapnel and broken bones. their mother, gail was killed. they and their father were among the americans critically wounded in the march isis suicide bomber attack on the brussels airport. lieutenant colonel martinez was just back from afghanistan. they had been waiting to check in for a flight to go on vacation. local media reporting an exchange of gunfire and they re reporting that this was a bomb blast. reporter: 35 people were killed, 300 wounded when isis ....
Was everything to the family. this young teenager is unflinching. i think it s important for me to talk about this. at 18, when you re supposed to be going to college. becoming independent. having been prepared for everything by your parents and then trying to learn for yourself what the real world is like. the real world slapped me in the face on march 22nd. and i m not going to forget that. reporter: kiani was supposed to be in college by now. when i heard news that i was awarded an air force rotc scholarship, the first person i told was momma. and she was so proud. ....
Children. i see her in this house. i see her in the people that come to help us. i see her in all the things that are have been done for us to support us, to help us. all the good things that have happened. reporter: it s more than just physical therapy to climb this wall. for the martinez family, total determination to get to the mountaintop and ring that bell. that s what i m talking about. barbara starr joins us now. a 7-year-old, 9-year-old, 13-year-old, 18-year-old, all without their mom. what is next for them? it s so remarkable. it was such a remarkable family to meet. kiani is determined to get back into the rotc, get the scholarship and go to college but she just had more surgery last week. her father told me she is still in a lot of pain but still determined to get back. ....
that s what i m talking about. barbara starr joins us now. a 7-year-old, 9-year-old, 13-year-old, 18-year-old, all without their mom. what is next for them? it s so remarkable. it was such a remarkable family to meet. kiani is determined to get back into the rotc, get the scholarship and go to college but she just had more surgery last week. her father told me she is still in a lot of pain but still determined to get back. 13-year-old kimo, i asked him if he had a college plan and he said to me, i have had a college plan since i was 6 years old. he wants to go to m.i.t. and study mechanical engineering. he said, what are you going to do with that? he said he s going to design high-end sports cars. incredibly strong family. i wish them the best. they are. they are truly remarkable. shows you, these are news stories that we cover, and then ....
Face on march 22nd. and i m not going to forget that. reporter: kiani was supposed to be in college by now. when i heard news that i was awarded an air force rotc scholarship, the first person i told was momma. and she was so proud. it s tough. reporter: lieutenant colonel martinez now raising four children on his own, grieving his wife and recovering from his own injuries. photos of happier times with gail in europe while lieutenant colonel martinez held a nato job. i later learned i took most if not all of the shrapnel. my son took the secondary wave. he got the burn, the flame. i didn t lose consciousness. i was blasted forward. ....