Olympic Park Bombing survivor, former DEA agent, recalls the moment that created a special bond between the two

Monday marked 30 years since two people died and 111 more were injured after an explosion at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. 

For Fallon Stubbs, the daughter of Alice Hawthorne who died in the explosion, the day is deeply personal.

Alice Hawthorne was killed in the blast, just moments after Stubbs snapped a photo of her at Centennial Olympic Park. 

Stubbs and her mom packed their corvette to the brim before leaving Albany, Georgia, and heading three hours north to the Summer 1996 Olympics. 

"... she just wanted to make the memory for me and make sure that I understood that one, the Olympics coming to Atlanta was such a big thing," Stubbs said. "We had never had such a thing there." 

Stubbs said her mother knew how much she loved basketball, so they went to see the Men's Basketball "Dream Team." 

"I've always been a huge basketball junkie," Stubbs said. "So she knows of course how much I love basketball and she was like 'You know what? We should go.' Yeah, we should. Yes, we should." 

Later, the pair ended up going to Centennial Olympic Park to take part in the celebrations. Stubbs said they weren't there long before her life changed forever. 

"I can recall that night like it happened yesterday," Stubbs said. "Like I can hear the bomb go off I can see all of the things." 

A pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park, killing Hawthorne and injuring Stubbs. Stubbs was just 14 years old when her mother died that day. 

"But my mother, even in that moment, she took all of the shrapnel," Stubbs said. "If you ever saw her autopsy report, the amount of damage that she endured so I did not. So, I do have scars. But they're not nearly what I would have had if my mother was not in front of me to take the bulk of it." 

Former DEA agent recalls the 1996 Olympic Bombing

Ken Magee is a former DEA agent who was helping with security during the Olympics. 

He happened to be off that evening but stopped by the park any way. He said he was 40 to 50 feet away from the bomb when it went off. 

"I heard a little girl screaming and it turned out to be Fallon," Magee said. 

Fallon was injured by shrapnel in her arm and leg, and he stayed with her, keeping her conscious until help arrived.

"She was talking to me about her mother: where's her mom? I said we'll talk about your mom in a little while, why don't you tell me what did you do today? How did you — just keeping her alive, keeping her aware until we could get paramedics and an ambulance to her," Magee said. 

Magee and Stubbs have remained connected ever since. 

"He saw a young girl in need and her mother was in another space, bleeding out and I'm sure he said - as a man and father - he said my job is to protect her," Stubbs said. "Even though I'm not his daughter. But immediately, he wanted to protect me." 

Magee said watching Stubbs' life unforls has been nothing short of inspiring; he's proud of Stubbs. 

"Imagine being a 14-year-old girl and losing your mother in a terrorist attack while you are severely wounded yourself, and to go on and become a successful businesswoman and God loving individual," Magee said. "It's just truly remarkable story. And I'm blessed to be a, a footnote in that story of her life." 

Stubbs said the story of her mom isn't her death, it's her life. She described Hawthorne as a trailblazing woman raised during segregation, who pursued an education at Albany State University, built businesses, and created opportunities for others.

"We want to remember the incident and the death, but that's not the important part," Stubbs said. 

Stubbs said her mother's legacy isn't finished, it's still being written.