Boston Marathon bombing fright still too close to home

Unfortunately, the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013 hit very close to home for Bill and me. Our daughter Lisa, a Boston oncologist, was a participant.

We hadn’t moved to John Knox Village in Pompano Beach yet. We were still living in McLean, Va. On that fateful April day, Bill was hospitalized because of a fall on the ice.

Mid-afternoon, a nurse came into his room to check on him and told us there had been an explosion at the Boston Marathon. Lisa’s brother-in-law, a computer whiz who keeps track of such things, had called us earlier in the afternoon to let us know her approximate finishing time and it was, unfortunately, right about the same time as the bombing.

We turned on the TV and watched in horror as the events unfolded. The cameras showed the explosions over and over as we tried to see if any of the crumpled bodies on the ground could be our beloved little girl.

The hospital chaplain came in and did his best to comfort us as he prayed for us. It seemed like hours, but it must have been just a few minutes before Dan called again to tell us Lisa had already just crossed the finish line when the bombs exploded and that she was safe.

Later we found out that she had heard the explosions but didn’t know what they were. She didn’t have her cellphone and for almost an hour was unable to get in touch with her husband and children, who had cheered her on at several locations along the route and were waiting in the car near the finish line to pick her up. She was finally able to use the Park Plaza Hotel’s phone to contact them.

Thanks to her Marathon sponsors, she raised over $5,000 for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Neonatal ICU that day. We know our family was one of the lucky ones. Many others were not. Three civilians died, and over 250 people were injured, many of them losing limbs.

Five years may be a long time, but to Bill and me, it seems like yesterday.