I was one of the last...

Item Information

Title:
I was one of the last...
Date:
April 2013
Format:
Documents
Genre:
texts (documents)
Location:
Northeastern University Library
Collection (local):
Our Marathon
Series:
"Your Story"
Subjects:
Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston, Mass., 2013
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Link to Item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20265628
Terms of Use:
Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/ Requests for permission to publish material should be addressed to Northeastern University Library's Digital Scholarship Group (dsg@neu.edu).
Contact host institution for more information.
Language:
English
Notes:
Item Text: I was one of the last finishers, as it turns out. Exactly one minute after I finished, put on a space blanket and collected my thoughts, I heard the first blast behind me. I turned to see the second blast. As I have relatives in Israel, I am sensitive to terrorist bombings. I fully expected a blast in my immediate vicinity, the finish line being a likely "sucker punch" bomb for a terrorist. I remember looking up at the buildings, bracing for the end. Instead, I saw the first responders and marathon volunteers kicking into gear. The volunteers cleared the streets of the food and medal tables and calmly asked us to stand on the sidewalk. Their clearheaded and calm instructions averted a stampede. I felt as calm as I could be given the circumstances. A marathon volunteer let me borrow her cell phone so I could call my wife, tell her in about 15 seconds that there was a bomb, that I was all right, that she should tell friends and family, and that was probably the last she would hear from me in awhile. I was cold, hungry and tired. I knew something terrible and epoch had happened and the best I could do was find my way to the bus to get back home. I had planned to stop by the Boston EMS emergency tent to have my annual picture taken with my "life savers." They were obviously on to more important, serious, and courageous work. Thoughts went back to exactly three years ago. I miraculously survived a cardiac arrest on a North Station commuter rail train because I was in such good shape from training for the 2010 Boston Marathon. Now, at 61, I had just finished my fifth marathon since that day. And on Monday, like so many others, I wore a sign on my singlet. Against the background of a heart, I had the words: "Thanks to Boston EMS/Mass General. Revived and Repaired March, 2010. Amalie Benjamin wrote a great piece about it: http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/articles/2011/04/13/his_attachment_to_race_is_heartfelt_literally/ To me, at 61, marathon running is my personal triumph over death. And it had just happened again.
Notes (acquisition):
This story was collected by the Boston Globe in the days immediately following the Boston Marathon Bombing. GlobeLab collected these anonymous stories on the Boston.com website and donated them to the Our Marathon Archive. We are grateful for this contribution, which gives insight into how Bostonians and visitors to the city understood the bombing events in their immediate aftermath.