Alicia Moreau Shambo ’89 knows exactly where she’ll be on April 21, 2014 –– the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.
She’ll be at the finish line, wrapping weary runners in Mylar blankets. The same place she was a year ago when the bombs exploded. The same place where Shambo, a former Navy medic, put her life at risk to help the wounded.
“I need to be there,” she says. “I didn’t give it a second thought.”
College of Charleston Magazine Fall 2013
The story of Shambo’s selfless efforts at the 2013 Boston Marathon was chronicled by Alicia Lutz in the Fall 2013 issue of College of Charleston Magazine.
RELATED: Read why Shambo ran toward the sound of the explosions.
As race day nears, Shambo is making final plans for houseguests. Bruce Mendelsohn, a bystander who also helped save lives last year, is running in the marathon this year. He and his wife Heather are staying with Shambo, who lives near the start line in Hopkinton, Mass. For years she has opened her home to runners, many of them perfect strangers. That’s what Bostonians do on marathon day.
She knows this year’s race will have a different feel. An air of triumph, an aura of sadness. She knows the media spotlight will be trained on Boston for the anniversary. “The whole world will be watching,” she said. “I hope it sends a message that you can’t keep us down.”
One year later, Shambo says she is doing fine, better than some. She’s more concerned about the nurses and other first responders who after rendering first aid at the bombings have struggled to get their lives back on track.
“I’m OK,” she says. “I’ve seen and been involved in some tough situations.” But as she talks, the memories of a year ago resurface. She starts to cry.
Alicia Moreau Shambo ’89 at the Boston Marathon finish line.
She felt fortunate that her dreams had not been haunted by what she witnessed that day. And then recently, out of nowhere, she bolted awake one night. In the dream she was at the marathon. There was an explosion. Then another.
RELATED: Read about Political Science Professor Kevin Keenan’s research on urban terrorism.
Lately, Shambo has found comfort in the familiar routine that plays out around Boston as Patriots’ Day draws near each year: The repainting of the yellow stripes that mark the finish line on Boylston Street, the hanging of hundreds of banners from light poles along the race course, the setup of hundreds of Port-a-Johns and security barriers.
The bombings will never be forgotten. But they will never define the spirit and strength of the venerable 118-year-old race. “It will get back to normal,” Shambo says. “It’s an American tradition.”
