BOSTON (WHDH) - As Danielle Reny Larrow neared the Boston Marathon finish line in 2013, she heard the first bomb go off.
“I had a feeling something might have happened to my family because I knew where they were planning on standing, which was close to where I’d seen the first explosion,” she said.
Then the second bomb went off right where her sister, Gillian, her parents, her grandmother and her then-boyfriend – now husband – were standing.
“My thoughts shifted immediately to my family because I knew where they were standing,” Reny Larrow said. “I was very, very scared for them.”
They were all injured in the blast before being rushed to the hospital. Her sister Gillian had suffered the worst. However, it would be hours before Reny Larrow heard from her family.
“Ultimately connected with my mother, who told me that my sister had been very gravely injured and was on the way to the operating room to help try to salvage her legs,” Reny Larrow said.
Gillian spent several weeks at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she underwent a series of reconstructive surgeries.
“They performed some heroic measures and were ultimately able to save both of her legs,” Reny Larrow said. “We were just so grateful for the outcome, and we’re thinking of how we could give back, how we could move forward, how we could make a difference for future trauma victims.”
The family worked with Brigham and Women’s to create the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center to support care for trauma patients, partly because they learned trauma care is underfunded.
This year Reny Larrow, her father and more than 150 runners from around the world will be running in the marathon to support the Stepping Strong Center.
“While it’s important to us,” Reny Larrow said, “the coolest thing, I think, is seeing how important it’s become to other people as well.”
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