5 years later, Boston Marathon survivors, responders move on

By William J. Kole, The Associated Press

BOSTON — One was an attacker. One was a volunteer first responder. One lost her leg. Another lost his little boy. And a police officer very nearly lost his own life.

Half a decade ago, these five lives probably never would have intersected. Then bombs bloodied the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators, wounding 260 others, and forever linking a villain to his victims and the heroes who rushed to help them.

The attacks of April 15, 2013, touched off a manhunt that mesmerized the world. Boston ordered its people to shelter in place. Red Sox and Bruins games were cancelled as police in tactical gear and armoured vehicles fanned out across the city. Five days later, one bomber was dead, another was in custody, and locals had united around a social media hashtag that gave voice to their grit and resilience: #BostonStrong.

Ahead of Sunday’s fifth anniversary, The Associated Press offers these snapshots:

DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV

THEN: College classmates knew him as “Jahar” — a goofy young man more interested in getting high than studying. But prosecutors say he and his older brother, Tamerlan, became radicalized after the family moved to the U.S. from Russia in 2002. Chilling video shows the brothers mingling with the crowds near the marathon finish, their backpacks concealing crude pressure-cooker bombs. Prosecutors said they wanted to retaliate against the U.S. for its actions in Muslim countries. Tamerlan was killed days later in a shootout with police; Dzhokhar was captured hiding in a boat.

NOW: Tsarnaev, 24, has been on federal death row since his 2015 conviction for deadly use of a weapon of mass destruction and other counts. He is being held at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, a lockup nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” Jurors approved death by lethal injection, but years — perhaps decades — of appeals await.

In his own words: “Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” he scribbled inside the boat before his capture .

REBEKAH GREGORY

THEN: Gregory was near the finish line with her 5-year-old son, Noah, and her boyfriend when bomb shrapnel shredded her left leg. She later wed the boyfriend in a fairytale ceremony featured on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress.” But in the emotional aftermath — after enduring dozens of operations in a desperate effort to keep what was left of her leg, she finally had it amputated below the knee to stop her chronic pain — the marriage ended.

NOW: Gregory not only survived, but thrived. She married her college sweetheart and moved to Houston, where the Astros put her on a baseball trading card. She had a daughter, Ryleigh, despite being told she probably couldn’t have any more children. She established the Rebekah’s Angels Foundation to help children with post-traumatic stress disorder. And she wrote a book , “Taking My Life Back.”

In her own words: “Normalcy goes out the window. You have to figure out how to piece your life back together. This has made me look at life from a whole different perspective. I wake up just grateful to be alive and to have one more moment with my husband and our beautiful children. You count your blessings or you count your problems.”

CARLOS ARREDONDO

THEN: Millions know him as the man in the cowboy hat who helped save the life of marathon spectator Jeff Bauman, the double amputee played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2017 movie “Stronger.” Arredondo had become an anti-war activist and suicide prevention advocate after one son was fatally shot by a sniper in Iraq and another killed himself, and he was at the finish line handing out American flags when the bombs went off. Instantly, Arredondo became a symbol of courage.

NOW: Arredondo continues to do whatever he can to help others. His volunteers with the Red Cross, and his Arredondo Family Foundation works to prevent military-related suicides and hand out Thanksgiving turkeys to veterans and their families. He’s now preparing to run his first Boston Marathon.

In his own words: “What many people don’t realize is that first responders also go through some of the same trauma as survivors. I’ve been dealing with some issues, but that doesn’t slow me down. It’s been an amazing journey.”

BILL RICHARD

THEN: Cheering the marathoners at the finish line was part family tradition, part rite of spring, so Richard; his wife, Denise; and their three children were all at the finish that fateful day. Eight-year-old Martin was standing next to one of the bombs; he died on the sidewalk. The bright-eyed little boy lives on in a widely circulated photo showed him holding a poster he’d created the year before with the message: “No more hurting people — peace.”

NOW: Richard and his wife astonished many by asking that Tsarnaev be spared the death penalty, if only so their family wouldn’t have to relive their ordeal through future appeals proceedings. In Martin’s memory, they’ve since set up a foundation and helped create a new park downtown where kids can play.

In his own words: “Good will always triumph. It’s really not even close.”

DIC DONOHUE

THEN: When police in suburban Watertown frantically radioed that they were exchanging fire with the suspected marathon bombers, officers from virtually every law enforcement agency imaginable responded. Donohue, a transit police cop, soon found himself in a firefight . A bullet likely fired by a fellow officer severed his femoral artery. Donohue’s heart stopped ; he had lost so much blood, it had almost nothing left to pump.

NOW: After being promoted to sergeant, Donohue retired from the Boston transit police, citing complications from his injuries. He and his wife since have welcomed a second son and are expecting their third around this year’s marathon on April 16, and Donohue has a new career as a public speaker and officer safety trainer.

In his own words: “I try not to dwell on the past. I’m in pain every single day but I don’t let it get the best of me. These days I’m making an impact on my community in a completely different way.”