Marathon bombing survivor Heather Abbott hosts event to raise awareness and funds for amputees
More than one hundred people gathered on the patio of The Barking Crab on Saturday afternoon with survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings to raise awareness and funds for amputees in need of customized prosthetics.
This marked the second year that the Seaport restaurant hosted the fall fundraiser for The Heather Abbott Foundation, started by survivor and amputee Heather Abbott. The foundation helps improve the quality of life for people who have lost limbs by providing customized prostheses, which can cost thousands of dollars and are often not covered by health insurance.
“A lot of times, health insurance will only cover one very basic device,” Abbott said, “so amputees who would like a running leg to run, or a microprocessor knee, or maybe a mechanical hand, are oftentimes denied by health insurance companies because those are considered luxuries and not medically necessary.”
Abbott said she was lucky to receive aid from One Fund Boston, which helped her get customized prosthetic legs that allow her to continue to do and wear the things she loves.
“That’s really what made me start the [Heather Abbott] Foundation and realize that there was a need for funds to be raised for this cause,” she said.
Since it began in 2014, the foundation has given out six prostheses to amputees, including several children, around the country.
Swapna Oslund, a 9-year-old from Beverly who attended Saturday’s event, said the running blade she received from the foundation in April allows to her to keep up with her teammates on the basketball court and football field.
Previously, she had to play wearing her regular walking leg, which her mom, Maren Oslund, said slowed her down.
Now, with the new prosthetic, Swapna can focus on her athletic skills.
“It’s better because I can run faster,” Swapna said.
Abbott said that, for people who have lost limbs in traumatic circumstances, customized prostheses can make major differences when it comes to both physical and emotional healing.
“I know from my own experience of becoming an amputee with absolutely no notice and no expectation, to be able to get back to doing things that I was able to do in my previous life and not having to give them up was extremely important to my healing process,” she said. “Everything from running—even though I didn’t like to run, I didn’t want somebody to tell me I couldn’t do it anymore—to wearing high heels and being able to wear the kind of clothes I like to wear.
“Being able to have those options and regain that part of my life back was really important to me and I think kept me sane throughout my recovery,” she continued. “And I really understand why amputees who don’t have that are at such a disadvantage.”
Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the 2013 bombings, said the benefits of having a customized prosthesis can be immediate.
“It’s all about fitting in,” he said.
Matt White and Karen McWatters at Saturday’s event.
Karen McWatters, who also lost a leg in the bombings, said she and other survivors would never have been able to get the customized legs they have if it weren’t for the donations that poured in.
“I feel like, especially because we were given this huge opportunity, that’s why there’s a very big need to give back,” she said. “I mean, I could have gotten hit by a bus, and I’d be in the same boat as most of the people in the country that have to rely on the mercy of donations or insurance.”
McWatters said she’s happy to see the work being done by Abbott’s foundation. It’s work that she said she knows her friend and bombing victim, Krystle Campbell, would have supported. Campbell was one of three people killed in the bombings.
Matt White, McWatters’s roommate and manager of The Barking Crab, agreed. He said that Campbell, who he knew for 10 years and was like a sister to him, always helped others.
Addressing the event’s attendees, Abbott asked everyone to give a toast to Campbell.
“I feel like her spirit is here today,” she said.
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