Two survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing relived the event before an audience of advisors at LPL Financial's Focus conference last week.
“I remember the day like it was yesterday," Jeff Bauman told the audience. " I try to forget it, but it will always be with me. The kid bumped into me. He had a backpack. He was alone. I stared at him. He had glasses on. I was thinking, ‘Where is he going?’ I then saw a bag two or three feet away. I was thinking any unattended bags should be reported. I was thinking about that and two seconds later I was thinking, ‘Why are they shooting fireworks off into the crowd?’ I lifted my head and saw chaos. I felt like I was in a war movie. Then I saw my legs. Bones were split open. I didn’t think I was going to make it."
Then, in a description of what was going through his mind that drew some laughter from the crowd, he continued, "I was thinking about my mom. I was thinking, ‘She is going to kill me.’”
Bauman and Heather Abbott answered questions from Lisa Hughes, a co-anchor for WBZ-TV news in Boston. Abbott and Bauman survived the Boston Marathon explosions that took place on April 15, 2013. Abbott lost part of one leg and Bauman lost parts of both legs, yet both walked into the conference hall on their own.
Abbott recalled hearing the first explosion and, 12 seconds later, the second explosion went off. “I felt like my foot was on fire," she said. " I was calling out for help, but I didn’t know what was next.”
Multiple doctors told Abbott that her best chance for an active life was to have her leg amputated. “My first reaction was, ‘How am I going to tell my dad?’” she said.
She also replayed the ordeal in her mind, going through all the "What ifs."
"What if I was later? Why me?" she recalls asking herself.
Bauman said he had to deal with similar thoughts.
“I accepted it and decided I was going to be strong for the people around me,” Bauman said.