(757) 333-3333A Year After Boston Marathon Bombing the Injured Still Struggle
It was heartening to see 36,000 runners complete the Boston Marathon today just over a year after bombers bought death and injury to the same event.
The event was won by an American for the first time since 1983 when Meb Keflezighi, 38, won the men’s division. But the result was less important than the symbolism given what happened a year ago.
The event in 2013 saw bombings near the end of the course that killed three and wounded more than 260 people. Over the next few days the police hunted down the culprits. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial in the wake of the April 15, 2013, bombing and could get the death penalty. Prosecutors said Tsarnaev and his older brother – ethnic Chechens who came to the United States more than a decade ago – carried out the attacks Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police days after the bombings.
Behind the headlines the wounded learned to adapt and to live with terrible injuries. In a recent article the Boston Globe reported on how they have fared in the last year.
While they are grateful for the skilled medical care they have received at the hands of doctors, nurses, therapists and other professionals, the injured still struggle, the report said.
Amputations of legs were common after the bombings. This is an injury our attorneys see on occasions in car and motorcycle wrecks in Virginia. Fortunately we have never seen anything on this scale. The Globe story referred to the “relentless injuries nobody sees.”
“Many still battle hearing loss, ringing ears, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress,” reported the Globe.
It cited Sydney Corcoran who has developed an eating disorder after the attacks. She endured leg surgeries, many other complications, and further surgeries, but her “emotional scars run deeper,” the Globe stated and she has sleeping disorders and feels restless.
Her mother, Celeste Corcoran, was also seriously injured in the blast. Both of her legs had to be amputated. “My legs were blown off and that’s huge,” she said. “But so many more people suffer in silence because everybody looks at them and sees this whole person.”
Hearing problems have also affected many of those who were at the finish line at the time of the blasts.
Sadly we have seen far too many instances of terrorism in America that have left victims with the kind of injuries associated with war zones. The injured are still coming to terms with attacks such as 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
If you have been injured on the roads, in a building or elsewhere, talk to our Virginia personal injury lawyers at 757.455.0077 or see Cooperhurley.com
