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Boston Victim Who Lost Both Legs Reunited With The Cowboy Hat Hero Who Saved His Life: 'I Gave Him A Kiss On The Cheek As It Was Beautiful To See Him Doing So Well'

'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

'I jumped the fence after the first explosions and all I saw was a puddle of blood and people with lost limbs,' he told ABC News. 'I saw adults, much younger than myself -- ladies, men, pretty much everyone was knocked out.'

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.

 

 Hero tells of helping bombing victims

 

 

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

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Cowboy Hat Hero Reunites With Bombing Victim