It emerged on Tuesday that the man in the wheelchair later had to have both legs removed. Jeff Bauman, 27 had a double amputation at Boston Medical Centre. He had come to see his girlfriend run.
Arredondo's story appears equally dramatic and harrowing. He was reportedly waiting at the finish to greet a runner, who was competing in the race in memory of his son Alexander Arredondo, a lance corporal in the US marines who was killed by a sniper in 2004 in Iraq. Carlos, a self-employed handyman, reacted to his son's death by setting fire to himself inside a van, suffering severe burns. He subsequently became a peace campaigner, in part in remembrance of his son.
A 2007 New York Times story recounted how Arredondo took a pickup truck around the country, carrying a flag-draped coffin and photos and mementos of Alexander, including a football and his Winnie the Pooh toy. "As long as there are marines fighting and dying in Iraq, I'm going to share my mourning with the American people," he told the paper.
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