Our thoughts & prayers are with all the victims and their families impacted at today's Boston Marathon.TY to all our emergency personnel.
— Joe Andruzzi (@Andruzzi63) April 15, 2013
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Gawker has a tremendous, heartbreaking story about the man pictured in the cowboy hat, rushing to victims aid immediately after the blast. He held a tourniquet of a victim who lost both his legs in the attack. You'll see him at the 1:45 mark of this video:
The 52-year-old is Carlos Arredondo. He was watching the race in support of a runner who was running the marathon in memory of his son, Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo. He was killed in Iraq in 2004. Via Gawker:
The incident – and the 10 months he spent in the hospital recovering – spurred Arredondo to a life of activism protesting the war in Iraq. He drove around the country in his son's truck, which was carrying a coffin and was decorated with pictures of his dead son at his funeral. “As long as there are marines fighting and dying in Iraq, I'm going to share my mourning with the American people…Every day we have G.I.'s being killed, and people don't really care enough or do enough to protest about how the war is going,” he told the Times. “Some people say I'm dishonoring my son by doing this, but this is my pain, my loss.”
Gawker also notes his other son committed suicide at the age of 24, battling grief over the loss of his brother. Yesterday, though, Arredondo was a hero, rushing to that man's help. Here's an interview with him:
Finally, I thought it was worth mentioning the doctors and medical personal who are helping victims battle for their lives with pure professionalism and class in a nightmarish situation. Last night Mass General Hospital Trauma Surgeon Peter Fagenholz gave a press conference about the situation at the hospital. He fielded the questions like a boss, describing a horrific scene. But Dr. Fagenholz just went to work saving lives, trying to be the best he could be. The video player is buckling under the bandwidth right now, so click watch it at CBS Boston:
There will be many other similar stories of bravery and heroism the coming hours and days from this tragic event. For those of us who watched in horror from afar, there's a lot we can learn from their actions in the wake of a terrible tradgey. If you know one, please share it with us. All deserve to be similarly recognized.
A few more pics via Business Insider:
First responders (Photo: Kylie Atwood/CBS News) twitter.com/pourmecoffee/s…
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) April 15, 2013
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Buddy tells me 1st responder wheeled this woman out of danger and then went back to scene. #Boston twitter.com/LukeRussert/st…
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 15, 2013
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Police react in aftermath of explosion #bostonmarathon #boylstonst (John Tlumacki photo) twitter.com/BGlobeSports/s…
— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) April 15, 2013
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Boston, we're all thinking about you.
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