BOSTON (WHDH) - Civil rights leader Jean McGuire, the 91-year-old who was stabbed while walking her dog in Franklin Park, made her first public appearance since the news broke of the incident ahead of her release from the hospital.
“I’ve never, in my 91 years, not felt safe walking the streets of Boston, day or night, never. And now, I will never go out there to the park alone again,” she said at a press conference at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she appeared with a cast on her arm. “It’s in my head that it wouldn’t be wise, it’s a different time.”
“I didn’t have any words,” she said of the attack. “I used the training that I had, which I did with my staff to protect myself when somebody attacks my body.”
She said that if humans can’t coexist peacefully in our “one little spot” in the universe, “if we can’t live together without killing each other and endangering each other, we’re in real trouble.”
McGuire’s nephews and the doctor who performed surgery on her also spoke to the media. Her nephews thanked the two Good Samaritans, whom McGuire called “angels without wings,” who found their aunt after she was stabbed, and she urged the public to help find the assailant.
McGuire added that she has appreciated the access to “high-quality” health care she has in Boston. She also said her dog, who was with her during the attack, is fine. She said she’s hoping to get back to the pool soon, and is expected to make a full recovery.
In fact, she’s well enough to joke about sparring with her doctor, as she’s “making sure I can punch you, I can hug you, and pat you,” she said, chuckling.
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