COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus woman and graduate student at The Ohio State University is among the many Americans stranded in Brussels, Belgium after a series of terrorist attacks.

A series of explosions rocked the local airport and subway, killing 31 people and injuring hundreds more.

Katherine Hartmann of Columbus was actually on her way to the airport when she learned about the explosionsthere.

“I was very lucky. I was headed to the airport. On the cab ride there, the driver got a call and then turned on the radio. I discovered that although I didn’t know it, I could understand a bit of French and very quickly realized that there had been an explosion at the airport,” said Hartmann via Skype. “Eventually we were able to turn around at the airport and I had the cab driver drop me off at a nearby hotel and that’s where I have been all day.”

Hartmann is in Belgium for a series of meetings at the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).  She has applied for a Fulbright Scholarship hosted there and was discussing logistics of her project.

She is an MD/Ph.D. student at Ohio State pursuing her doctoral work in Wolfgang Sadee’s pharmacogenomics lab.

Once inside her hotel, Hartmann used the WiFi to notify family and the university that she was safe.

“Finding WiFi was my first priority. I was terrified at the thought that my family would wake up to the news and not know if I was alright. Honestly, I think it is much harder for them. They see the images on the news and even though I say it’s nothing like what is around me, I would be terrified if it was my child or my brother here,” said Hartmann.

The trip to Belgium was previously scheduled for December, just after that terrorist attacks in Paris. Hartmann said she was not afraid to travel to Europe given the current climate of violence.

“I certainly understood the potential risks in traveling and made a choice knowing that events like this could unfold. I felt that the scientific opportunities warranted the risk and that making choices out of fear was not for me.  So, I came anyway and I have no regrets,” sge saud,

Hartmann is thankful for the help she is receiving while trying to get back home to Columbus. She was rescheduled to fly home Wednesday afternoon, but that flight is cancelled.

“For me one of the biggest things that helped was the generosity of the people I have met here.  People who are practically strangers – I met them just for lunch or a short meeting – have sent me emails today asking if I’m alright, providing their cell numbers, and an offer to help with anything I might need,” said Hartmann.