Every year, on the third Monday in April, Heather Abbott and her friends hop a train from Providence, R.I., to Boston. They cheer on the Red Sox at Fenway – and then watch the Marathon runners cross the finish line from the Forum restaurant on Boylston. This year, while waiting to get inside, they heard a loud explosion down the street. And moments later, another, just feet away.
"It blew a bunch of us into the bar," Abbott said. "And I suppose it hit me because I was the last one. I was on the ground. Everybody was running to the back of the bar to the exit and I felt like my foot was on fire. I knew I couldn’t stand up. And I didn’t know what to do. I was just screaming, somebody please help me. And I was thinking, who’s going to help me? Everybody else is running for their lives."
But people did help. Four strangers rushed to Abbott’s side. A man carried her out of the bar – and stayed with her until EMTs arrived. She later learned that man was Matt Chatham – a former linebacker for the New England Patriots.
"It was very scary," she said. "I didn’t know what was going to happen to me – if it was just my foot that was injured. I asked the EMT to call my mom and he called her. I only knew her home phone number, so luckily she happened to be home and I heard him tell her to go to Brigham and Women’s."
Abbott was immediately taken into surgery – to repair the blood flow to her leg. But as she puts it, her foot was “very badly mangled.” Doctors warned of a long-term pain, and said amputating would give her a better chance of getting back to her old life. And so on Monday – exactly one week after the Marathon – orthopedic surgeon Dr. Eric Bluman removed Abbott’s left leg below the knee. A decision he says was ultimately hers.
"It’s very, very rare that the doctor makes the decision," Bluman said. "We do everything to let the patient come to a decision on this – because values for every separate patient are different. Keeping a limb may be very important to one, and being a whole person, not losing any limbs may be of the utmost importance, while for someone else like Heather, function is paramount."
In terms of her emotional well being, Abbott says she’s been able to cope with her injury – and the new reality that awaits her – because of the support from her friends and family.
"If someone had told me that I was going to have a – half a leg basically at the age of 38 before this happened, I think I would have never believed it," she said. "I think I would have been devastated. And I really haven’t had a moment yet of being devastated because I’ve gotten so much support."
As for the men blamed for the attack – Abbott says she hasn’t given them much thought.
"I don’t even know how to pronounce their names," she said. "I haven’t watched TV since the incident. And I think that’s one of the things that’s kind of helped me get through this – to just focus on my recovery and how to proceed with my life. I’m sure at some point I will be interested in the details and have an opinion about the individuals that did this. But I just haven’t let my mind go there."
Abbott also says she’s not sure what will come of her annual trip to the Marathon finish line.
"I don’t know how I’m going to react when I’m in a crowd like that again," she said. "Just because when the first bomb went off it triggered with me that this was a terrorist attack. I thought, of course it is. It’s the Boston Marathon. You have all these people here. Of course this would be a place that terrorists would choose. And I think I feel a little uncomfortable about being at a place like that again."
For now, Abbott is just eager to return home to Newport. First, she’s headed to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. In about six weeks, she’ll be fitted for a temporary prosthetic leg – and will work with physical therapist to build back her strength, endurance and balance. And she says she’s excited to get back to living her life.
"I talked to somebody yesterday – one of the doctors came in to see me, he was asking me what kind of activities I do," she said. "I told him I like to run, I like Zumba classes, aerobics classes. I told him about plans I had this summer to do yoga paddle boarding and that I was kind of disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to do it this year. Some friends and I had wanted to sign up for it. And he said, don’t worry, you’ll be doing it next year."
