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Breckenridge explosion survivor recovering

The Associated Press
Aspen, CO Colorado

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. ” Brian Mislansky lost his left leg when a building exploded around him, but he says he didn’t realize how much worse it could have been until he saw a photo of the destruction.

Mislansky was the only person in the Good Times Adventures building when it blew up on April 19. After fire crews carefully dug him out of the wreckage, he was flown to a Denver hospital where doctors amputated his leg above the knee.

“I didn’t have a choice really, and I was just happy to be alive,” Mislansky told the Summit Daily News in an interview published this week. “A few days later, a friend showed me the picture of the building … and I slowly began to realize that it could have been so much worse than losing a leg.”



The results of the investigation into the explosion weren’t immediately available Friday, and fire officials did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

Mislansky’s dog Lulu had been in the building with him, and she was found alive eight days later, still trapped in the debris.




A veterinarian said Lulu suffered mild dehydration and had some trauma to her left eye, and probably survived by drinking melting snow and eating food she found in the debris.

“After eight days, I was just beginning to lose hope,” Mislansky said.

He was still in St. Anthony Central in Hospital in Denver when she was found.

“When I got the phone call, I was with my whole family, and it really just broke us all down,” he said.

Mislansky returned home to Breckenridge after six weeks in the hospital. He said he is gaining mobility but won’t be able to put any weight on his hip for several months.

“It will be a long process, but a year from now, I’ll be walking,” Mislansky said. He said he plans to get a prosthetic.

Mislansky credited community support for helping keep his spirits high.

“The support has been ridiculous and words can’t even describe it,” he said. “I have no idea what’s next and, like I have been doing the whole time, I’m taking it day-by-day.”