For one runner on Monday, crossing the Boston Marathon's finish line meant something more.
"This is the day....I take my life back," Rebekah Gregory wrote on a post published to Facebook ahead of the race, along with this photo:
Two years prior, Gregory was one of many injured in the 2013 Boston bombings. After 17 surgeries to try and repair her leg failed, she chose to have it amputated late last year, according to espnW. Doctors told her last week that if she ran the full distance of the Boston Marathon, she would damage her leg. So Gregory decided she would start at mile 23, still crossing spot where she thought she was going to die in 2013.
"To remember what it felt like to be bleeding out on the pavement, wondering if I would ever see my child's smile again. In a matter of minutes, my entire world changed. Everything I knew was literally blown to pieces, and I was forced to start picking them up one by one," Gregory wrote in another Facebook post last week.
Gregory ran the last few miles with her trainer, also an amputee. In a powerful moment, Gregory took to her knees after crossing the line, as seen in a video posted by My Fox Boston.
Gregory posted a photo of the moment as well:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."2 Timothy 4:7
Posted by Rebekah Gregory DiMartino's New Day New Hope on Monday, 20 April 2015
After the race, Gregory told espnW that she plans to run the full distance next year.
"I took my life back today." she said. "I want people to know that there's life after bad things that happen to you. And if I can be someone's hope or inspiration, that's what I want to do."
Gregory, who got married last year, also testified last month at the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Gregory penned an open letter to Tsarnaev, following her testimony.
Gregory arrives to the federal court in March for the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. (Source: AP)
"You can't handle the fact that what you tried to destroy, you only made stronger," Gregory wrote.
Tsarnaev was convicted of all 30 counts surrounding the 2013 bombings. As 17 of those charges can be punished with the death penalty, his trial will resume Tuesday, The Boston Globe reported.
Gregory and another survivor of the 2013 attack took part in the Boston Marathon Tribute Run in April 2014. (Source: AP)
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