Most of us can remember where we were the moment we heard the news of the Boston Marathon Bombings two years ago. Brookline’s AmyBeth Bourgault was with Warren and Harry—she is their nanny. AmyBeth’s brother Evan called her. He was out of the country, working at a gamer convention. He had just gotten out of work and went to a nearby café where he heard.
Two bombs had exploded in the crowd near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Evan called his sister to ask the question countless others were asking in the wake of those stunning events. How are you? How are mom and dad? We all made the calls, the inquiries, praying our family and friends weren’t among the victims.
Up until that call from her brother, AmyBeth hadn’t heard about the tragedy. She turned on the TV and her heart sank. AmyBeth and Evan’s parents were where they were every year on that day—in the crowd near the finish line. After a long time of not knowing, the news came. Her parents had been hit.
Beth and Mike Bourgault were stuck in the middle of the crowd like so many others when the blast hit. The explosion ripped through Beth’s calf. She almost bled out at the scene, but through the courage and expertise of police, fire, EMT’s and spectators, who turned into emergency response volunteers on a dime, she survived. Multiple surgeries and painful rehabs later, it took a year before she could walk unassisted. Mike suffered bruises and cuts.
According to AmyBeth, “It looked like he had the worst sunburn from the heat from the bomb.” Mike, like Beth, lost his hearing for a while and also suffered from vertigo.
Since AmyBeth’s parents had different types of injuries and this was an emergency disaster of the highest magnitude, they were taken away in separate ambulances heading to different destinations. It’s difficult to imagine what that was like for them, both injured and at the same time not knowing how their spouse was doing.
As in most cases, the injuries that take the longest to heal and are the hardest for those around the victims to appreciate are the internal ones. Both Beth and Mike suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Since the attacks, they’ve experienced nightmares, sudden noises bother them, and they have an understandable aversion to crowds and crowded places.
The Bourgaults have a lot of good people on their side. Due to the generosity of everyone who donated to the One Fund, in the almost two years they’ve been receiving medical attention they’ve never received a bill. Said AmyBeth, “Everything gets rerouted to the Attorney General.”
One person who touched Beth and Mike Bourgault’s lives as he touched so many, in large and small ways, and in ways both public and private, was the late Mayor Thomas Menino. AmyBeth explained, “Mayor Menino never missed a support group meeting. He invited every victim of the bombing to his house for dinner.” AmyBeth’s dad couldn’t drive yet when the invitation came so the Mayor sent a limo to pick up her parents.
AmyBeth’s parents also have something going for them, the benefits of which are impossible to measure. They have great kids.
Lured by the courage and endless spirit of their daughter, the Bourgeaults will watch AmyBeth cross the finish line of the 118th Boston Marathon. AmyBeth hopes to find some measure of closure for her family and others who’ve suffered. Says AmyBeth, “I want to run hard and run strong so they can have that moment of joy in that place. I never focus on myself when I train, I focus on my parents.
“On the one-year anniversary of the bombing and again throughout the 2014 Boston Marathon weekend, I attended numerous events for victims and survivors. It was an emotional, healing, inspiring experience. On the morning of the 2014 Boston Marathon, I took all I was feeling and literally ran with it. I put on my sneakers and ran from my home in Brookline, towards Boston, past the finish line and just kept going for close to 4 hours. I truly understand how Forrest Gump felt—I just felt like running. I haven’t stopped running since. When I get tired, I remember those who can’t run and what they would give to have this simple gift. I run to honor those who cared for the victims, survivors and their families. I run and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me.”
The thing is not everyone would do what AmyBeth is doing for her parents and all of us. She is doing what she can to makes things better for those around her.
AmyBeth is running for the Mass General Emergency Response Team. Please consider supporting AmyBeth and the other dedicated runners raising funds for Mass General’s Emergency Response efforts.
Look for AmyBeth on April 20. She’ll be running decked out from head to toe in pink. Cheer for her. Cheer for all the participants. And if the inspiration hits, just start running.
But I didn’t tell you that.
—R. Harvey Bravman, Publisher
