In one short moment, hundreds of lives changed forever. Roseann Sdoia was cheering from the sidelines at the Boston Marathon when two bombs killed three people and injured 200 more.
“Initially, I thought someone had thrown a hand grenade into the crowd,” Sdoia said. “In my mind, it could never have been a bomb.”
Knocked unconscious by the blast, Sdoia was rushed to the hospital. And when she woke, she was faced with a tough new reality after losing her leg in the bombing.
She has found a place for herself among the Boston Strong, travelling across Canada as a motivational speaker. This journey brought her to Saskatoon, speaking at the Saskatchewan Marathon Pasta Dinner on Saturday evening.
“In one way, it’s therapeutic for me to attend marathons, so that I can get rid of that fear of being near them,” Sdoia said.
Despite the pain of rehabilitation, Sdoia now runs five to eight kilometres a day. She’s also working to help others in need of prosthetics.
And even when she returns to the place she stood on that fateful day, Sdoia’s optimism remains.
“Being positive is something you can control and it’s a lot more energy being negative.”
Based on a report by CTV Saskatoon’s Calvin To
