When Boston Marathon bombing victim Jeff Bauman heard that one of the two suspects in the attack had died, he was first coming to grips with the fact that he lost both legs.
"What I thought was, 'He's dead and I'm still here,'" Bauman told Boston radio station WEEI.
Bauman, 27, had been waiting at the marathon finish line April 15 to cheer on his girlfriend when the bombs went off. But he told WEEI that even before the explosions occurred, he sensed something was amiss with one of the other spectators.
"I was with my girlfriend's roommates and we were having a great time," he said. "Just that one guy, he didn't look like he was having a good time. He was standing right next to me. … He was just an odd guy . . . The next thing you know, I hear fireworks and I'm on the ground."
Bauman was later reported as having aided the FBI in identifying the suspects.
"For the first suspect they just took my description," Bauman told WEEI. "They thought I saw the second suspect and they had a sketch artist come in [to the hospital] maybe on Wednesday.
When Bauman looked down to see that his legs had been blown off, he says he mainly felt "sad. . Sad that someone would actually do that."
LISTEN: (Story Continues Below)
He survived thanks to Carlos Arredondo and John Mixon, who lifted him into a wheelchair that medical staff had brought for the race, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Arrodendo then pinched the severed artery in Baumaun's thigh to keep him from losing too much blood.
"When Carlos picked me up and threw me in a wheelchair," Bauman told WEEI, "then I was like, 'all right, maybe I am gonna make it.' But before that, no way, I thought I was done."
His girlfriend, who had suffered from cramps and was a mile away from the finish line, was uninjured.
Despite losing both of his legs, Bauman has a positive outlook on the future.
"I'm pissed, obviously, but it's in the past. You only look forward. I had a lot to live for before, and I've got a lot to live for now."
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