'When Carlos picked me up and threw me into the wheelchair, then I was like, maybe I am gonna make it'
- Jeff Bauman
By
Leon Watson, Helen Pow and Nina Golgowski
The first time Jeff Bauman Jr
met Carlos Arredondo it was moments after one of two blasts at the
Boston Marathon blew him to the ground taking both his legs.
Without hesitation Arredondo rushed to the 27-year-old's side, pinching a severed artery closed in his thigh as seen in a dramatic photograph perhaps best capturing the day's heroism, suffering and humanity.
Their
second meeting at Boston Medical Center on Monday, exactly one week
later, was far more private yet still nearly just as emotional as Buaman
came face-to-face with the man he credits for saving his life.
Improving: Hero Carlos Arredondo, wearing a
similar cowboy hat, opened up about their second meeting on Monday at
the Boston Medical Center and how much better his new friend is doing
'When we first saw each other
we hugged each other and I gave him a kiss on the cheek because it was
very beautiful to see him doing very well,' Arredondo shared to WHDH after meeting behind closed doors.
'He was so happy to see me and he was so thankful. Tears were coming out of his eyes,' he said.
Because
of the amount of pain Bauman has been in, their reunion waited until
Monday allowing him some extra time toward his recovery.
Arrendondo wore a similar tan cowboy hat on his head, one he may be forever be remembered by after that now iconic photograph capturing the day's horrific events.
'"You saved my life,"' Arredondo repeated Bauman's words to him which he described as 'very strong' to hear.
'I'm glad that I got to help him,' he added while saying that Bauman will go on to do great things for others.
Recovering: Bauman earlier last week also met
with actor Bradley Cooper, seen left of him, and New England Patriots
wide receiver Julian Edelman right, just after received at Boston
Medical Center
'When Carlos picked me up and threw me into the wheelchair, then I was like, maybe I am gonna make it,' Bauman previously told WEEI of that desperate moment. 'Before that, no way. I thought I was done.'
As Arredondo earlier revealed, pain and suffering are nothing new to the Costa Rican immigrant.
The 52-year-old's eldest son, 20-year-old Lance Corporal Alexander Arredondo of the U.S. Marine Corps died in action nine years ago.
The father was dealt another devastating blow,
when his second son Brian, 24, committed suicide just before Christmas
2011 as the final troops withdrew from the war which killed his brother.
Brian had suffered with depression and battled drug addiction ever since Alexander's death.
He has severed as an inspirational anti-war protester ever since.
Arredondo
has described how, as most people ran for their lives when the
explosions went off in Boston, he vaulted a fence to get to spectators,
many of whom had lost limbs, and used his clothes and towels to stanch
victims' bleeding.
Hero: A badly shaken Carlos Arredondo, who was at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon when two explosives detonated
Mr Arredondo helped Mr Bauman into a wheelchair that race medical staff had brought and said he kept talking to the man so he wouldn't lose consciousness.
'I kept talking to him. I kept saying, "Stay with me, stay with me,"' Mr Arredondo, who is a member of the Red Cross disaster team, told Maine Today.
A graphic photograph shows the hero seemingly pinching shut the femoral artery on one of Mr Bauman's part-severed legs using his hand as they rush him to ambulances.
The day he learned his elder son had been killed, which also happened to be his 44th birthday, Mr Arredondo locked himself in a van with five gallons of gasoline and a propane torch and set the van on fire.
Jeff Bauman Jr., 27, of Chelmsford,
Massachusetts, pictured left, before and right after, had been watching
his girlfriend compete in the race when the devastating blast went off
Bauman, pictured right, is in critical but stable condition at Boston Medical Center having lost both legs
He survived, became a
peace activist, and legally changed his name to Alexander Brian Arredondo in
tribute to his sons. In 2006 he became an American citizen.
When the bombs went off
yesterday, Mr Arredondo and his wife Melida Arredondo were in the VIP stands
near the Boylston Street finish line of the marathon.
They were waiting for the
last of the National Guard runners, representing Run for the Fallen Maine, an
organization established to honor Marines who have been killed since the terror
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One of those runners had dedicated the race to Mr
Arredondo's son.
They were also there to
support suicide awareness group, Samaritans, which had a number of runners
competing.
But instead, they watched
in horror as more than 176 runners and bystanders were injured at the finish
line and at least three killed.
Peace activist Carlos Arredondo's courageous
effort to help the wounded after the 2013 Boston Marathon explosion. He
is ringed in this grab from video footage
Brave: Seconds after the blast Mr Arredondo was pictured attending to victims
Mr Arredondo (centre) was seen pulling debris
and fencing away from the bloody victims, clearing the way for emergency
personnel to tend to their wounds
'There was blood on the floor, blood everywhere. Then what you saw was ribs, everywhere, I mean everywhere...' Mr Arredondo said afterwards.
'The device, the IED, went down and then it went up.'
Mr Arredondo immediately sprinted into action after the bombs detonated,
and he can be seen in a series of photos and videos of the aftermath rushing to one of the two
bombing sites, then pulling debris and fencing away from the bloody
victims, clearing the way for emergency personnel to tend to their
wounds.
Bauman, from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, had been watching his
girlfriend compete in the race when the devastating blast went off,
changing his life forever.
A
friend of Mr Bauman Jr.'s updated anxious Reddit users of his condition
and another user posted a heartbreaking Facebook message from the
victim's father, who was in Concord, NH. at the time of the explosions.
Double tragedy: Marine Lance Corporal Alexander
Arredondo (left) was killed in Iraq in 2004. His brother Brian took his
own life last month after struggling to deal with his elder brother's
death
Grief: Brian Arredondo (left) joins his father Carlos as they attend a
memorial for his brother Alexander who was killed in the Iraq war. Brian
took his own life just before Christmas 2011
'Can everyone pray for my Son Jeff jr
who was at the finish line today in Boston,' Jeff Bauman Sr. wrote late
last night. 'He is in surgery right now with injuries to his legs. I
just can't explain whats wrong with people today to do this to people.
I'm really starting to lose faith in our country.'
At
around 9 a.m. today, Mr Bauman Sr., who seemingly learned that his son was
injured from seeing the horrific photograph of Mr Arredondo and Jeff,
gave another update to concerned friends and family.
'Thank
you all for your thoughts and prayers, they did help greatly.
Unfortunately my son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He
had to have both lower limbs removed due to the extensive vascular and
bone damage.
'I was with him last night and am
heading back down to Boston - Boston Medical Center to be with him
today. He went back into surgery last night at midnight for exploratory
due to fluid in his abdomen. He came out at 2:30 and doctors informed us
he was doing better. Thanks again to all you guys and girls, my
friends. I'll keep you informed. Jeff B.'
Other Reddit users asked if Jeff had
health insurance, suggesting that readers could start raising money to
pay for his medical bills if he didn't.
Peace activist Carlos Arredondo's courageous effort to help the wounded after the 2013 Boston Marathon explosion
When the bombs went off yesterday, Mr Arredondo was near the Boylston Street finish
line of the marathon
Mr Arredondo said he was handing out flags across the street when the bomb went off
Without
Mr Arredondo's help, Jeff, whose face is ghostly pale in the photograph
having been drained of blood, may not have been so lucky.
Mr Arredondo
was badly shaken and trembling as he gripped a small
American flag drenched in blood talking to bystanders on the street
about the explosion.
He described helping a victim by ripping up a T-shirt to fashion a makeshift bandage.
Melida Arredondo became emotional as the memory of her stepsons' deaths came flashing back for her and her husband.
'They were very close -- Irish twins,' she told ABC News.
She said Alexander's death in Iraq shook the entire family.
Mr Arrendondo suffered burns to 26 per cent of his body after setting
his van alight and attended his son Alexander's funeral on a stretcher.
After his son's death in Iraq, Mr Arredondo drove a pickup truck around the country to protest against the wars.
Carrying a flag-draped coffin and
photos and mementos of Alexander, including a football and his Winnie
the Pooh toy, he became one of the most visible and poignant dissident to the conflicts.
In his name: Carlos Arredondo holds a portrait
of his son Alexander, who died during the conflict in Iraq, outside the
White House in 2006
Protest: Carlos Arredondo on Memorial Day, 2009,
with his truck decked out in memory of his son, who was killed at the
age of 20 while serving as a Marine during the Iraq War
'As long as there are marines
fighting and dying in Iraq, I'm going to share my mourning with the
American people,' he told the New York Times in 2007.
But his other son Brian couldn't cope without his brother, taking his own life in 2011.
'He was never quite the same after his brother's death,' Melida Arredondo said.
Monday's grisly scene reminded Mr Arrendondo of a war zone, he told ABC News.
'It was like an IED [improvised explosive device],' he said.
'It broke
everybody's legs. Two ladies at my left side were knocked unconscious. They lost
their legs. I was putting pieces of clothing on their legs to stop the bleeding
and called for assistance. Someone came and we helped get them in wheelchairs.'
Ms Arredondo, a public
administrator who sought shelter on the opposite side of the street,
said she wasn't surprised her hero husband rushed to help the wounded.
'I know my husband, and he would go right in,' she told ABC News. 'They
opened all the barricades that were keeping the public away. There were
shards and people cut and injured.'
She
said she initially couldn't find her husband and became concerned
because spectators and bystanders were struggling to get cell reception
in the chaos.
'I couldn't even get a text to him,' she said. 'Then I saw him, covered in blood.'
Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon as an explosion erupts near the finish line
Horror: Police officers with their guns drawn
hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked
down a runner at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon
Mr Arredondo was just one of the brave souls who helped out in the wake of Monday's devastation.
Gestures as small as offering a drink
of orange juice and use of a home bathroom were recounted on Twitter in
an ongoing online recollection of the fellowship that emerged.
'People
are good. We met a woman who let us come into her home and is giving us
drinks,' tweeted Ali Hatfield, a Kansas City, Missouri runner who was
in town for the race.
As the
city reeled from the tragedy that killed at least three and wounded more
than 176, Bostonions seemed to steady themselves by reaching out to
embrace those hurting even more.
'Two
Lutheran pastors walking Commonwealth, Bibles in hand. For those who
need comfort, they said,' tweeted Chelsea Conaboy, a Boston Globe
blogger.
A Google Docs form
was quickly set up to allow Boston residents to open their homes to
marathon runners from outside the area who had no place to stay in the
aftermath of the tragedy.
Anyone
wanting to get out of the back bay come over plenty of tables and calm
here and don't worry you don't have to buy a thing,' tweeted a local
restaurant called El Pelon Taqueria. 'open wifi, place to charge cell,
or just don't want to be alone, food and drinks,- pay only if you can
#bostonhelp.'
Pictures of
heroism and humanity flooded Twitter, from police officers carrying
injured young children to the residents who left their warm homes to
greet runners stranded by the emergency and offer them comfort.
'Local
Boston resident giving @AliHatfield and us orange juice and offering a
bathroom to use,' tweeted Ramsey Mohsen, a Kansas City, Missouri, Web
strategist.
In a tweet hours later, Mohsen revealed how shaken he was by the blast, 'Only now has it hit me. Holding back tears best I can.'
Terrifying moment blast hits crowds at Boston marathon
No comments:
Post a Comment