Winchester Hospital Volunteer Helping at Boston Marathon Again

The following is by Sun Park, a therapist in Winchester Hospital who volunteered at the 2013 Boston Marathon and will be volunteering again at this year's marathon on Mon., April 21.

When I look back to almost a year ago, it was sunny the morning of my second year volunteering at the Boston Marathon. I felt happy, satisfied, and ready to care for the runners who would need help during their 26.2-mile journey. Little did I know it would be an unforgettable one for the whole city of Boston.

The events in the medical tent started out with a runner who stumbled in and then vomited into a bag. We helped her onto a cot and I wiped her face and limbs with a cotton blanket. I also offered to gently massage her arms and legs to relieve her of severe muscle spasms. After I inserted an IV, we gave IV fluids and she looked much more comfortable. She finally began talking to me and expressed her gratitude.

Suddenly, there was a loud, sickening blast. The runner and I held onto each other and she said anxiously “what was that?” She cried and her body began to spasm again and she asked me not to leave. I tried to keep level-headed although I feared for my husband who was working outside the tent as a volunteer. I tried to offer some semblance of stability and reassured her that I would not leave her side. After few seconds we heard another explosion. After what felt like an eternity, I saw my husband and informed me that there were two bombings. He was closely followed by the first of the injured who entered the medical tent in wheel chairs.

At that moment of chaos, we prayed “thank you Lord for saving his life and protecting him from the bombing.” I heard John Anderson’s voice from microphone, telling us to go to the finish line; he said “you’re all medical professionals, do what you know how to do it” I grabbed my IV basket and ran toward the finish line. The first site I saw someone’s bone sticking out of their leg covered with blood and a haze in the air, along with bodies piled on top of each other. The first thing I smelled was smoke along with burnt clothes and blood. I heard someone yelling for us to clear the aisles in the medical tent. Everywhere was chaos with ambulances, stretchers, People pushing wheel chairs toward the medical tent. My hands began to shake and my feet felt stuck to road.

I don’t want to go into the details much further but let’s just say I never saw that before in my life, and pray I never will again. Finally, when my legs became unfrozen and I tried to comfort them while accessing their veins for IV insertion. I assisted physicians after came back to medical tent with patients who had minor injured from blast, bleeding from wounded face, head, neck, back due to the metal shrapnel. The sirens of the ambulances sounded like they were coming from all angles and were wailing, quieting with the runners, victims, and the city.

Finally while I was walking to the car with my husband, we heard a third explosion.

Thankfully, I was never be alone in this tragic experience and just continued praying for all victims, the medical teams and trauma centers across Boston who were overwhelmed from the marathon mass.

Before we arrived home, my son-in-law called and asked if we were okay. I replied we are okay physically but overwhelmed in our spirit.

That evening, I began writing down my thoughts in a notebook while the news flashed with scenes from the finish line and question of who was the culprit behind such a horrible crime. That night I had vivid dreams of the scene causing me to have physical reaction, anxiety, and inability to sleep or to eat.

The next day, I arrived at work here at Winchester hospital with a heavy heart and clear memories of the scene. I worked with a colleague, who had also worked as a volunteer at Boston Marathon. We looked each other without saying anything and just supported each other with a smile. That day I was touched by and somehow finished a twelve-hour shift with unexpected support all day long from WH’s employees, patients and their family members.

Next few days later, I encountered the WH Nursing department chief officer in front of our IV therapy office. She heard that the IV therapy team had been at the front lines of the marathon bombing and wanted to give each of us a Daisy award. This was what I call the “second shock of healing power.”

As you can see, my thoughts about the prior marathon was filled with conflicting emotions of anxiety, fear, some aspects of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but also with sweetness of making a small difference and experiencing the emotional support from the WH family and patients alike.

How did I cope? How can I found the resiliency to move forward?

According to American Psychological Association in Recovering emotionally from tragedy: “Ask for support from people who care about you and who listen and empathize with your situation.”

My situation was very fortunate because Harold and I were together when we went through the tragic event. Between all of us that were present at the bombing, there is an understanding and we’re able to relate about the experience physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Also being invited to Support Resources meetings which included therapy dogs supported by a Lutheran Church, a Fenway Park dinner, and of course the 18th Kenneth B Schwartz “Compassionate Healthcare in honoring Dinner” by the Schwartz Center gave us. I honestly felt that I was not qualified to be invited to honored dinner.

Also, through this experience I learned to focus more on my relationship with my patients and their families. And I will be more loving, understanding and most of patients I will dedicate more time to help those in need.

Stories of victims such as Adrianne Haslet- Davis who lost part of left leg but is sharing her story and encouraging others inspires us all to stay strong and gave me another reason to reapply as a volunteer for the 2014 BM. I want shine a light in darkness places. I will honor Krystle Campbell, Lu Lingzi, Martin Richard, Sean Collier and all survivors with acts of kindness, healing, and love.

“Communicate your experience.” I took this advice and wrote articles for the Christian magazine Signs and Times and was interviewed with Seoul Broadcast System (SBS) in Korea and Korean Society Newspaper of New England. Those avenues to express myself helped to release some of the tension and began healing.

Seeing the family and volunteers when I visited Copley square and Boylston every day for few weeks and bringing notes and banners saying “Boston strong! Boston go forward! Victory Boston! Do not give up! Together we are strong!” days weeks expressed how April 15, 2013 those experiences impressed me to move forward and continue on my life, my devotion to work, my patients, community and my family.

I hope how I coped with the horrific experience will be helpful to some of you. My prayer and hope that at the 118th the finish line and we will be able to support them complete the 26.2 miles.

On this one year anniversary, we will come together as brothers and sisters responding with care, love, strength and support.