NEW: Firsthand Account from Mom Waiting for Daughter at Finish
Monday, April 15, 2013
Mass. resident Lisa Hickey was feet away from today's explosions while waiting for her daughter to run by.
Massachusetts resident Lisa Hickey said, "My daughter Allie, 21, was running the Marathon -- her first. My younger daughter, Shannon, 17 went with my ex-husband and I to cheer Allie at the halfway point. After seeing her, and getting a sense of her timing, we dashed into Boston to see her finish.
We were on the corner of Exeter and Boylston -- my son John and other daughter Kit were somewhere in the crowd but we hadn't caught up with them. The crowds were 3 or 4 rows deep so my ex walked down a few blocks to see if he could get us a better spot. Shannon and I were peering over people's heads, and we knew Allie was close because we started to see people finishing the marathon who we had seen at the halfway point.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe first explosion sounded like a gas explosion like a manhole cover had blown up. White smoke started coming up from that area. Shannon said "what was that?" and grabbed my arm. We started walking away from the area -- I felt I had to get her to safety, and find Allie. Then the second explosion happened, louder. It was unclear where it was coming from. At that point it was starting to get chaotic, and people were running.
Shannon wanted to go into a building, but I was worried about the glass. There wasn't any place that seemed safe, but I really wanted to run down the street to find Allie. We were both frantically trying to get in touch with the rest of our family who had phones, but the phones weren't working.
The worst feeling was the not knowing where people were. Still, despite the panic, almost all of the people around us were helpful, calm, doing whatever they could. By the time I was able to catch my bearings, everyone who had been injured was being helped. We had to walk by the scene of the second explosion to get out of the area.
I wanted to walk up the Marathon Route to find Allie, but the police kept yelling "Get out of here." We were finally able to meet up with my oldest daughter, my son, his girlfriend Kate, and a while later, my ex-husband a block away, on the Commonwealth Avenue mall. After what seemed like an eternity, Allie was able to borrow someone else's phone to text us and tell us she was OK.
What struck me the most was how many people ran right towards the explosions to help, even though there was obviously still danger. The first responders are heroes.
They say you don't know what you would do until it happens. We did what we could, which wasn't nearly as much as others. Being in the middle of that makes me want to learn first responder training, first aid, and CPR.
I am so very sorry for those who were injured, and the families of those who died."
