After this famous photograph was released, Boston Marathon hero Carlos Arredondo, was recognized for his heroism. He helped save Jeff Bauman two years ago when the attack in Boston caused him to lose both legs. The iconic photograph helped Carlos get the word out about his efforts as an advocate for charity and community action.

With the help of this fame, Carlos was able to launch the Arredondo Family Foundation to assist military families who have lost loved ones to suicide. This is a foundation that means a lot to Carlos and his wife Melida, who lost their son in 2004. Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo was killed in 2004 during a firefight. On the last day of the Iraq war, their other son, Brian, was grief-stricken and took his own life.

Trying to put these tragedies in the past can be hard for surviving family. The Arredondo family hopes to focus most on siblings who are suffering from a loss. They plan to help with emergency funding, counseling, and scholarships for siblings who are coping with military suicide.

During the most recent Boston Marathon, five participants ran in support of the foundation. Runner Chris Laudani. When Chris isn’t bartending, he s known for keeping the track clear and even shoveling snow from the track when it was once hit with a blizzard.

The Arredondo family invited are still close with Bauman, who also attended the foundation’s launch event earlier this year. “Jeff and [his wife] Erin, they fill a place –- they never could ever replace Alex or Brian –- but having them in our lives eases things,” says Melida Arredondo. “It helps, and we just enjoy spending time together.”

You can learn all about the Arredondo Family Foundation and get involved here.

In last year’s horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon, Adrianne Haslet-Davis was among the injured. The pretty young woman had been a professional dancer up until that fateful moment when a pressure cooker bomb exploded and caused her the loss of part of her left leg.

This past Wednesday, Haslet-Davis returned to the stage as she danced in public for the first time since her life-altering injury. She performed with her partner, Christian Lightner at the 2014 TED Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The 33 year old dancer is from Boston. She showed off her new prosthetic leg in a short, white, sparkling dress. The high-tech leg supported her beautifully as she twirled with her partner to a shortened version of Enrique Iglesias’s “ring My Bells.”

She released a statement following her return performance in which she expressed her delight at being able to dance again. She had always known, following the bombing, that she would find a way to return to what she loved, that she had to do it.

The dancer and her husband, Air Force Maj. Adam Davis, were among the 260 people who were injured in the explosions that took place at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Hugh Herr, the director of biomechatronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, began working on a design for a bionic leg that could be used for dancing soon after visiting Haslet-Davis in the hospital. His own status as a double-amputee gave him the empathy to want to help this courageous young woman return to what she loved doing.

Herr, who lost his legs in a climbing accident in 1982, designed his own legs that he now uses to climb today. He spent long hours studying dance so he could design a prosthetic that would hold up to the demands.
Next up for Haslet-Davis is an appearance on television’s dance competition show, “Dancing with the Stars.”

 

The tragedy that occurred at the Boston Marathon has brought one couple closer together and given them a plan for their shared future. Together they hope to build a new home and the support system they hope will carry them through the long road to recovery which lies before them.

Rebekah Gregory was a 26-year-old mother hailing from Richmond, Texas when the April 15 blast forever changed her life. After enduring 13 surgeries so far, she hopes to avoid having her left leg amputated.

Pete DiMartino, 28, from Rochester, NY lost 90 percent of his right Achilles’ tendon in addition to having multiple broken bones in his ankles.

The two had been dating for just under a year at the time of the bombing which claimed the lives of three people and injured another 275. DiMartino is making arrangements to move to Richmond.

The couple, who had last seen one another in May when Gregory was medically evacuated to Texas from Boston and DiMartino returned to New York to continue his rehabilitation. They were reunited in Houston, near Gregory’s home in July.

Gregory calls DiMartino the ‘love of her life’ and is amazed they were given this remarkable chance to rebuild their lives together. Though they had been sorting out the details of how to take their relationship to the next level by trying to decide which city to live in, the bombings stepped up their plans dramatically.

With a nudge from a Houston developer who offered the couple a discounted deal on a new home, it looks like Texas will be the couple’s home. DiMartino will be making many more trips to Texas to help get things going. One of the details they must settle on is the design. A master bedroom on the ground floor is a must for Gregory who is still unable to put any weight on her fragile left leg.

The house should be ready by November for the couple and Gregory’s son to move into. DiMartino is hopeful that he can make the move permanently at that time.

Though both struggle with chronic pain and the difficulties their new realities bring, they are confident that together they can weather this storm.

 

In the town of Squantum, just southeast of Boston, four little girls found a way to turn the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing into a plan of action for good. These ten-year-olds, all best friends, wanted to raise money to help the family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died in the bombing.

Squantum is a small bedroom community of just 400 families. It was here the girls set up a lemonade and baked goods stand just outside the Kennedy Library. Though none of the girls personally knew Martin, they knew they wanted to help.

Brigid Norris said the group had hoped to make $100 but had so far raised over $3,000.

The girls, like the rest of the world watched the unfolding stories and learned Martin had been standing near the finish line of the race with his family when the bombs ripped through the area. His mother Denise received a brain injury. Martin’s 6-year-old sister lost a leg in the blast.

Ciara O’Connors is the one who came up with the idea. She said she would want people to help her if this had happened to her.

Trisha Loney, the mother of one of the little do-gooders, Mary Loney, kept vigil over the girls while they sold their goods to an appreciative public. She said the girls saw a picture of Martin and realized he was just like them and all their friends and that put it in perspective for them.

As the money piles up in the little toy cash register they are using, the girls are amazed at their success. Brigid was amazed that four or five people gave $100 and didn’t even take a cookie.

The quartet has pledged to five all the money to the Richard family.

Mary Loney talked about being up till past midnight working on signs and baking brownies. Lauren Manning was excited to be able to do something good.

Customer Tina Dellorfano told the kids what a great thing they were doing when she stopped to buy cookies. She said it is the small moments of goodness that will help us forget the bombing.