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| This undated photo provided by Bill Richard shows his son, Martin Richard, in Boston. Martin Richard, 8, was among the at least three people killed in the explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, 2013. |
BOSTON (AP)
-- Third-grader Martin Richard had just gotten ice cream and was near
the Boston Marathon finish line, eagerly watching for friends to run by.
Krystle Campbell was enjoying the race with her best friend, hoping to
get a photo of the other woman's boyfriend after he conquered the last
mile.
Then the unthinkable struck. The
spirited 8-year-old with a wide grin who dressed up one Halloween as
Woody from "Toy Story" was dead, along with the outgoing 29-year-old
woman and a Boston University graduate student - victims of twin blasts
that turned a scene of celebration into chaos.
Some 180 others suffered injuries that included severed limbs, shrapnel wounds and abdominal lacerations.
Jeff
Bauman Jr., a man pictured in an Associated Press photo being rushed
from the scene Monday in a wheelchair, lost both legs. Rescuers took the
27-year-old to Boston Medical Center, where doctors had to amputate
because of extensive vascular and bone damage.
"Unfortunately my son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," his father, Jeff Bauman Sr., wrote in a Facebook post.
The
younger Bauman, who had been at the race to cheer on his girlfriend,
had to have further surgery because of fluid in his abdomen.
"I
just can't explain what's wrong with people today, to do this to
people," the father wrote of the darkness that stained the race on
Patriots' Day. "I'm really starting to lose faith in our country."
While
mourning the dead Tuesday, friends and neighbors tried to focus on
positive memories of cherished ones whose deaths still seemed unreal to
them.
"I just can't get a handle on it," said
Jack Cunningham, a longtime friend of little Martin and his family. "In
an instant, life changes."
Cunningham recalled
how, as a pint-sized preschooler, the boy had insisted on getting out
of his stroller during a 5K race in South Boston. As soon as his mom let
him out to run with the rest of the family, Martin took off along the
rainy race course.
"He was just having a ball, splashing in every puddle," Cunningham said.
The
boy's father, Bill Richard, released a statement thanking friends,
family and strangers for their support following his son's death.
Richard's
wife, Denise, and the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Jane, suffered
serious injuries in the blasts. Their older son, Henry, wasn't hurt. Two
neighbors said that Jane lost one of her legs in the attack.
"My
dear son, Martin, has died from injuries sustained in the attack on
Boston," Richard said. "My wife and daughter are both recovering from
serious injuries. We thank our family and friends, those we know and
those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you
continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin."
U.S.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, a family friend, said Martin and his family were
trying to get over the race barriers and into the street after the first
blast, when the second bomb struck.
"They
were looking in the crowd as the runners were coming to see if they
could identify some of their friends when the bomb hit," said Lynch, who
has known the Richards for 25 years.
Bill
Richard, a runner and cycling enthusiast who had stayed out of the race
because of an injury, had to have several ball bearings from his leg,
Lynch said.
On Tuesday, a candle burned on the
stoop of the family's single-family home in the city's Dorchester
section, and the word "Peace" was written in chalk on the front walkway.
A child's bicycle helmet lay overturned near the front lawn.
At a nearby park, the words "Pray for Martin" were written in large block letters on the pavement.
Next-door
neighbor Betty Delorey said Martin loved to climb trees and play sports
with his siblings and the other children in the neighborhood.
"I
can just remember his mother calling him, `Martin!' if he was doing
something wrong," the 80-year-old said. "Just a vivacious little kid."
A
photo of the three Richard children on Halloween in 2009 showed a
smiling Martin dressed as Woody from the "Toy Story" films, complete
with cowboy hat, neck scarf and a sheriff's badge. Beside him stood
Jane, dressed as the film character Jesse, and Henry, dressed as Harry
Potter.
"He had that million-dollar smile and
you never knew what was going to come out of him," said Judy Tuttle, a
family friend. "Denise is the most spectacular mother that you've ever
met and Bill is a pillar of the community. It doesn't get any better
than these people."
She recalled having tea
recently with Denise Richard, a librarian at the elementary school both
Martin and his sister attended, while Martin did his homework.
"What a gift," Tuttle said of the 8-year-old. "To know him was to love him."
Kevin
Andrews, headmaster at the Neighborhood House Charter School, said the
school community was heartbroken by the loss of the third-grader, whom
he called "a bright, energetic young boy who had big dreams and high
hopes for his future."
Cardinal Sean O'Malley,
head of the Roman Catholic Church in Boston, said a Mass on Tuesday in
Israel for those impacted by the bombing, archdiocese officials said. He
also called the pastor of St. Ann parish in Dorchester, where the
Richards attend church, to say he was praying for them.
Boston
University said one of the victims was a graduate student who was
watching the race with friends at the finish line, which is not far from
the school. It did not identify the student.
In
nearby Medford, William Campbell, described his daughter, Krystle, as
the light of his life, "a very caring, very loving person."
"Daddy's little girl," the 56-year-old said.
His wife, Patty Campbell, her voice breaking into tears, said the couple was "heartbroken at the death of our daughter."
"She
was a wonderful person. Everybody that knew her loved her. ... She had a
heart of gold. She was always smiling. You couldn't ask for a better
daughter," the mother said. "This doesn't make sense."
Their
daughter's best friend, Karen Rand, suffered a severe leg injury in the
blasts. "She's very badly hurt, she's all messed up," Campbell said.
"Her leg was all destroyed."
A friend and
co-worker described Krystle Campbell as hardworking yet fun-loving,
someone who knew how to live life to its fullest.
"We'd
go out drinking and she'd work a double the next day," Sheba Parent
said. "But she was still career oriented and focused on her goals."
