BOSTON, April 21 (RIA Novosti) – American Paralympic athlete Jeff Glassbrenner, who had a narrow escape during the Boston Marathon bombing last year, will toe the starting line again to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack, the sportsman told RIA Novosti Monday.
“I made the decision to come back this year on my way back to the hotel after the bombings. I am a very competitive and determined person. That day, I felt great sadness for the people who lost their lives and those who were injured," Glassbrenner told RIA Novosti.
"The Boston Marathon is one bucket list athletic event that I wanted to finish. If I didn't go back this year then they win ... putting fear in me and others that dreams and goals are too dangerous to go after. I dedicate this race to everyone who has a dream and has the courage and conviction to go after that dream,” said Glassbrenner.
The 41-year old athlete also reminisced about how close he was a year ago to losing not only the race, but his life.
“When the Marathon was halted everyone was confused, they didn't know why it had stopped. The crowds were seeing on Facebook and Twitter that the noise we heard was a bomb and that body parts were all over the finish line. I grabbed my phone and called my wife and told her I was ok,” the runner said.
“They cut the phone line after that, then everyone panicked because they had people at the finish line and didn't know if they were injured. It was a very nerve-wracking time,” he said, adding that a last-minute change of a prosthetic had prevented him from being at the finish line at the time of the blast.
Three people were killed and over 260 wounded after two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 last year. Two brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were identified as suspects in the blasts.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a gunfight with police in the days following the bomb attack. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, tried to flee the city but was wounded and later arrested. He is now awaiting trial in federal court, scheduled to begin on November 3.
