For 10 years Boston doctor Natalie Stavas and her father, Joe, have been a running duo. In April 2013, as they crossed the finish line, two bombs exploded about a block away.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 Why was Natalie running slowly?
2 Why was the race special for Natalie and her father?
3 At what point in the race did the bombs go off?
4 How many people in total did Natalie help or tried to help?
5 Which two life options did Natalie have after her behaviour at the Boston Marathon was made public?
6 What sense of responsibility does she talk about?
To check your answers, you can read the transcript below.
I don’t necessarily believe in fate but if I hadn’t broken my foot (1), if I hadn’t been running so slow, I wouldn’t have been where I was when the bombs went off.
And it hit me right in the left ear, it’s a distinctive sound, I can pick it up, I can replay it, and at that point in time Natalie’s eyes got as big as saucers, her pupils dialate, Dad I got to be there.
Last year at the marathon I had set out the goal to run with my father, which was probably was going to be our last father-daughter race (2). We’ve been running together for about 10 years.
Natalie is one of our five children and we became empty nesters about two years ago, so there’s a few things we liked to do with our kids to kind of keep connected with them.
And, you know, we ran the whole race together and then we were separated at mile 26 when the bombs went off (3).
I just saw her waving Dad, this way, this way, her pony tail bobbing in the crowd and just disappeared.
When a police officer actually was able to stop me I, I yelled at him and I said I’m a physician, I’m a doctor, and you have to let me help. And that’s when I saw, you know, a young woman on the ground lifeless (4), me and a group of other first responders tried to save her, then I ended up treating four other people with lower extremity injuries. And fortunately, those other four survived (4). Suddenly there was my face on the front of a magazine and it said Boston’s Best. I finally realized that my life was going to be different.
The anger that is there has been far overshadowed in a way by the compassion.
And I could either embrace that difference or I could continue to let it destroy my life (5) and I then chose this path where I decided to embrace it. I’ve pretty much been waking up every day saying is it marathon Monday yet? Please let it be marathon Monday.
It had to be another race, another time to kind of finally close that chapter of all the events that took place.
When all the cameras go away, and when this story is no longer the story, we’re still here, people are still suffering and people still have lost, and I feel a big sense of responsibility now to keep helping people heal (6).
