BOSTON (AP) — The 7-year-old who lost part of her left leg in the Boston Marathon bombings is learning to use a new prosthetic leg, as her family continues to mourn four months after the April 15 attack that killed her brother.
The family of Jane Richard and the late 8-year-old Martin Richard said Thursday that Jane is already dancing on her prosthetic leg and "struts around on it with great pride."
Parents Bill and Denise Richard say Jane came home from a rehab hospital a few weeks ago. The family slept at home together for the first time since Martin's death.
The Boston couple also was hurt, but their 11-year-old son Henry wasn't injured in the explosions near the race's finish line.
The Richards say they are still coping with Martin's death and "even the sweetest moments can become heartbreaking."
The Richard family posted the following update on their blog on Aug. 15, four months after the bombing:
“Today marks four months since our family, and indeed our community were savagely and cowardly attacked for reasons we remain at a loss to understand. While we have made progress with our physical injuries, the emotional pain seems every bit as new as it was four months ago.
An hour doesn’t go by that we don’t feel the agony of Martin’s death and the senseless way it came about. The pain is constant and even the sweetest moments can become heartbreaking when we are struck by the realization that “Martin would have loved this…”
But it is not all heartbreak for our family, as we are making progress on this long, difficult and painful road forward. After three months in hospitals and hundreds of hours of physical therapy and other work at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Jane was discharged a few weeks ago. That night was the first time any of us slept at home in our own beds since before the bombings. We left home together on April 15th, and we were determined that none of us would sleep at home until all of us could do so. As so many things have been, returning home without Martin certainly made that important milestone bittersweet, but we know he was with us, as he is every moment of every day.
Jane continues to be an incredible source of inspiration – and exhaustion. The loss of her leg has not slowed her one bit, or deterred her in any way. As we knew she would, when we finally returned home, Jane walked into the house with the aid of her crutches, but under her own power. She has since received her prosthetic leg. And while she is getting more comfortable with it, she is also limited with how much she can wear it at any one time. When she is able to have it on, she struts around on it with great pride and a total sense of accomplishment. Her strength, balance and comfort with the leg improve every day. Watching her dance with her new leg, which has her weight primarily on the other leg, is absolutely priceless.
As for the rest of us, we are still dealing with our injuries and their impact on our lives. But we are also making progress, and just like Jane, we each endure the occasional setback here and there along the way.
Henry has continued to be strong, attentive and protective of all of us. He has also managed to be busy this summer, having attended a few cool overnight camps and occasionally sneaking away to spend time with close friends.
Henry and Jane both look forward to getting back to school in a few weeks. Bill and Denise look forward to their return to school as well. The change in schedule will permit us to both look back on the thousands of loving and generous gestures sent our way since this nightmare began, and also start to look forward. We hope to honor Martin’s memory in a meaningful and impactful way, and this fall we intend to start exploring ways to do that.
Throughout all that has happened, we have worked hard to maintain our bond as a family. With the love and support of family and friends, including those who were total strangers just four months ago, we feel like we are succeeding.”