On April 15, 2013, Roseann Sdoia was a bystander on Boylston Street watching the boston marathon when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded. She was very close to the second blast at the finish line, and she lost her right leg. The person who rescued her and comforted her in the police car on the ride to Massachusetts General Hospital was fireman Mike Materia. Now, almost four years later, the rescued and the rescuer are set to get married.
Sdoia's story
Roseann Sdoia remembers clearly how she met her future husband. She concludes that they met on her worst day.
On the ride to the hospital after the bombing, Roseann remembers asking the fireman if she was going to die. He comforted her and said she would be OK. He said she only had a flesh wound. However, she ended up losing her right leg.
It was Roseann's mother who played matchmaker when Mike continued to visit her daughter while she was in intensive care. At the time, Roseann was only concerned about getting well. Mike visited her in the hospital, and they had their first date two months later. The fireman helped Roseann recover emotionally and physically including seeing to it that she got a prosthetic leg. Mike proposed to Roseann last month.
What's next?
Sdoia, 48, and her new fiancé, Mike Materia, 37, will participate in the annual Empire State Building Run-Up to help raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation so people with physical disabilities can pursue active lifestyles.
On one leg, Sdoia expects to race up the 1,576 steps to benefit charity. Mike will be by her side every step of the way just like he was when he rescued her on the day of the bombing.
Roseann believes that some things happen for a reason. She and Mike are planning a small wedding in October or November. In March, they plan to release a book titled "Perfect Strangers" about four lives that intersected during the Boston bombing. Of course Roseann and Mike will be two of the people involved. It will be interesting to read about the story of the two others.
