Heroes in Boston: ‘That man in the cowboy hat — he saved Jeff’s life’
Victim had been waiting for his girlfriend near the finish line
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Earlier today, we told you the story of Carlos Arredondo — a spectator turned rescuer in the bewildering minutes after bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Tonight, news of Jeff Bauman Jr., the man in the now iconic photo of the tragedy — alert in a wheelchair, holding what is left of his legs.
The Atlantic Wire reported earlier this evening that the 27-year-old has survived.
The website posted a link to Jeff Bauman Sr.’s Facebook account:
“Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers,” he wrote. “They did help greatly.”
His son, he said, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He had to have both lower limbs removed to the extensive vascular and bone damage,” he said of his son’s surgery at Boston Medical Center.
The Associated Press and the New York Times report that Bauman Jr. was on the marathon route to watch his girlfriend, Erin Hurley, compete in her first Boston Marathon.
In an interview with the New York Times, Bauman Sr.’s wife sent her thanks to Arrendondo: “That man in the cowboy hat — he saved Jeff’s life,” she said.
More on the Boston Marathon bombings: