Berti ran the marathon to raise money for a charity that helps children with rare or undiagnosed disorders. "I had just run to the finish line and like 30 seconds later I heard the first explosion, and then turned around and saw the smoke," he said. "I knew immediately that it was a bomb ... Then the second explosion occurred and I saw a wave of people running."
He said he was so exhausted he could not run anymore and was worried about getting caught in a stampede and the fate of members of his running group and his wife.
Amy Berti and a friend had just taken a picture of Joe and was heading to the finish line to find him when the bomb went off. They were both hit by shrapnel. Amy was uninjured, but her friend was bruised.
However, a woman next to Amy had her leg torn off from the knee down and lost all the fingers on her left hand. Amy Berti went to get help and, once that woman was being cared for, Amy's frantic search for her husband began.
Jay JannerJoe Berti, center, listens during a vigil for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing at Austin High on Thursday April 18, 2013. Berti witnessed the bombing at the Boston Marathon and two days later witnessed the explosion in West, Texas.
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