Heros

Those from Boston know that the Marathon (locally known as Marathon Monday) is one of the biggest holidays of the year. Always landing on Patriot's Day (yes, it's a real holiday), our city fills up with runners, supporters, and those who just enjoy a day off. At Boston College, I can say without doubt, that Marathon Monday is the biggest day of the year. It is mostly due to Mile 21 running right through our campus, allowing us to cheer on all the runners. 

Needless to say, we all knew that Monday was going to be a difficult day. Being away from campus on such a joyous, monumental day was devastating for all five of us BC girls here in Grahamstown. 

Feeling quite homesick, we decided to take matters into our own hands. We gathered some of the international students and headed to the local bar to introduce them to the magic that is Marathon Monday. Armed with our beer and pizza, we sat down and were absolutely blown away when we were able to find the Marathon on TV. A few tears were shed when we watched the front runners race past our campus. To see BC, with everyone cheering, hit home for many of us girls. 

Boston College girls!

The evening continued, the bartenders made fun of us for caring so much about a race, when all of the sudden I felt my phone buzz. I looked at my phone and saw "the marathon has been bombed". To say chaos broke out would be an understatement. We had no idea what that meant. Was it a terrorist attack? What kind of bomb? How many injured? Where? I felt my throat close. Boston is my home. Boston is where my friends were. After sprinting home from the bar, we got to the nearest television. 

Watching the film clips on repeat, we didn't know what to do. We all knew someone who was at the finish line. For some it was their parents, others their friends. For me, I had many close friends running the marathon that day. We had no idea what to do. Helpless does not even begin to describe what we felt. To watch horrific acts be done to your home, with no way to do anything is the worst feeling. I did not know if my friends were alive, I didn't know if there was a bomb near BC. I didn't know anything. 

It may have been the most heart-wrenching hours I have experienced thus far. I ran back to my room to grab my iphone so I could start getting numbers of my friends in Boston. I immediately called my parents asking what they knew, which unfortunately at that time was not much. I started calling close friends in Boston. Most of the conversations went like this:

"Hello"

"Thank God you picked up. It's Chelsea"

"Ummm...."

"Chelsea. Like in Africa"

I usually then got screaming or crying. I haven't spoken to most people back home outside of facebook since I left campus in December. After hearing that all of my friends and their families were safe, I was able to breathe a bit easier. However there were still a lot of unanswered questions. 

My biggest concern was the Campus School. For those of you who don't know, I work and volunteer at a school for students with severe and/ or multiple disabilities with complex health care needs. Each year we have over 300 BC students run the marathon to raise awareness. In the face of the crisis, this meant we had to find 300 BC students. 

Unfortunately being in SA greatly inhibited my ability to help with the search, so I did what I could-- hit the social media. I messaged anyone I knew asking that if they heard from any of the runners to alert the Campus School. I was checking profile pages of the runners to see who had checked in online saying they were safe. It was comforting to see the number of people checking in online, and before we knew it, all 350 runners were safely accounted for. I would call that a miracle. 

After a sleepless night, Tuesday came around. Tuesday was just as difficult as Monday night. What was the most challenging was that no one knew. Granted a few students had heard it on the news, but it was so far away that it really didn't mean that much to them. I could not understand why people were laying out in the grass and listening to music. Didn't they know what had happened just hours before? I couldn't understand why the sun was shining and people were laughing. It was so difficult to realize that while it was a tragedy that caused most of us to remain in denial, it was not on the radar of most of the students. I did not have one professor even comment on it at all. This made me miss home the most. If I had been at BC, I would have been surrounded by love. We all would have moped together, and all would have healed together. However, I was over 8,000 miles away and had to rely on just 5 other girls that truly understood the gravity of the issue. 

The week moved on, and so did I. What the Boston tragedy allowed me to see is how truly spectacular people can be. Starting late Monday night (SA time) all throughout Tuesday, images of bystanders reaching out to do what they could plagued the internet. Stories of marathon runners running to MassGen (hospital) to donate blood after running a marathon. See images plastered over New York and hearing "Sweet Caroline" sung at a Yankees game. 

While I will never forget 15 April 2013, I will also never forget the true beauty of humanity that emerged out of the darkness.  We can never thank enough the first responders who took control of the situation and did everything possible to keep the people and guests of Boston safe. 

Friday, the day of the Silent Protest, just when I thought that the week was almost over and that I could finally catch up on some much needed sleep, Boston flew back on my radar, crashing into me, and almost knocking me over. It had finally happened-- they found them. The two brothers had been spotted in Watertown. While one brother was neutralized during the early hours of the morning, the other was still at large. For those who aren't familiar with Boston, Watertown is across the river from Newton & Brighton, which is where Boston College is located. 

I was struck with renewed terror when I saw that there was a lockdown on the entire city, however especially focused on Brighton/ Newton. Knowing that all my friends were in the red zone was gut-clenching. I quickly messaged all my friends and they told me that the campus was crawling with police and that no one was allowed to leave their dorms. In order to get food, only one residence was allowed at a time. The residence would be escorted by BC Police as well as State Troopers to the dining hall and then back to their residence. Students had to keep their ID on them at all times. 

It felt surreal. Seeing pictures of my school, my home, under such rigid security felt like the nightmare was coming back to life. After not hearing too many updates throughout the day, it was around 1am (SA time) when my live stream started screaming that this was happening. Watching SWAT, FBI, and every other agency storm the neighborhood of Watertown was an unreal sight. 

Luckily the ending was one that all hoped for. The possibility of answers and closure allowed Boston and all Bostonians, both near and afar, to breath a sigh of relief. Looking back on this day, I could not be more thankful that I was abroad and was able to focus solely on doing what I could to help. Nothing has ever made me more proud to call myself a Bostonian than seeing the strength, pride, and love that city has.