Year later, Durham blast still reverberates through lives of many
The rubble has been cleared from the site of a massive gas explosion in Durham a year ago, but the wreckage caused by the blast remains in the lives of some of those who survived it.
A contractor installing underground cables struck a gas line outside the Kaffeinate coffee shop on North Duke Street on April 10, 2019. The resulting explosion rocked the area west of downtown Durham, killing two and injuring about two dozen others.
"At that exact moment when I felt the shockwave go through me, I thought I was going to die," Richard Meyers said Friday.
Meyers was driving a shuttle bus for Carolina Livery and was across the street from Kaffeinate to pick up passengers when the explosion occurred. The blast shattered the windows in the bus and blew off its doors, and Meyers said he was covered in blood and could barely hear.
"At the point of the explosion, I said two things. I said, 'I love you Jesus. I love you Gina,'" he said, referring to his wife.
The blast caused a brain injury, Meyers said, and he still suffers from headaches, fatigue, ringing in his ears, cognitive issues and memory issues.
"I have to lead a very measured life. I have to judge my activity level every single day," he said. "I also feel like I’m about half the man I used to be. Stuff that I used to do without even thinking about it, I can’t even attempt to do those things. I don’t have the stamina."
Meyer said his doctors have warned him that his health problems might never get better, but he said he's not giving up.
"The Lord spared me, preserved me, protected me," he said. "It’s something I don’t really like to think about. I come to tears a lot if I do. Sometimes it just comes up in my memory, and it’s very emotional for me. The visions that I have are visions of a war scene."
An insurance company denied his workers compensation claim last summer. The decision, which he is appealing, left him on the hook for $20,000 to $30,000 in medical costs. He and his wife now don't have money to pay their rent in a couple of weeks.
"The Lord is going to provide in whatever way," he said. "This happened for a reason. I don’t know what yet."
Meyers said that, before the explosion, he had thought about starting a fishing ministry in which he would take disabled people out on the water. Now might be the time to make that idea a reality, he said.
He said he had returned to driving a car for Carolina Livery part-time when the coronavirus outbreak occurred, putting him out of work.
"The hardest thing is being sedentary. I’m not a sedentary guy," he said. "I’m a 150 percent-er type of guy with energy. You know how those kind of people are, who are always going. The hardest part of this has been to lead a sedentary life because that’s just not me."
Damaged restaurant on verge of reopening
Located around the corner from Kaffeinate, Torero's Mexican Restaurant sustained major structural damage in the gas explosion and has been closed for the past year.
Co-owner Emmanuel Martinez said a Durham firefighter had just come into the restaurant that morning as first responders reacting to the gas leak tried to clear the area. After the blast, they escaped the building unharmed.
"It’s been pretty hard. We have to deal with all the insurance and city permits and all that to restore the whole restaurant," Martinez said. "But we’re almost there. By the end of the month, beginning of May, we are going to reopen for takeout, hopefully, until the virus is gone."
Some of Torero's former workers have since taken other jobs to earn a living, he said
"It was shocking. It was a very hard time for everybody," he said. "We’re very excited to see our customers back and, hopefully, to see our employees back."
