I am always awestruck when I see people, who, when faced with unfathomable circumstances, confront them with grace, dignity, and fearlessness.
This story reminds me a lot of Alissa Sizemore, an 8-year-old who lost her leg in a car accident, but courageously returned to her love of dancing a year later.
Rebekah Gregory was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. She was nearly killed by the bombs left by terrorists Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
But she survived, and after enduring 35 surgeries, at the end of last year, Gregory decided to have her leg amputated.
Gregory, who testified against Tsarnaev, had a very strong message for him.
"I think that's the ironic thing that happens when someone intends something for evil… Somehow, some way, it always ends up good," she wrote on Facebook last March.
"What you tried to destroy, you only made stronger," she said.
The Boston Marathon Bombings is a great tragedy in American history, many lost their lives or loved ones.
While there is no way to justify or rationalize such suffering and violence, what we can learn from this tragedy, and most tragedies, is that Americans are a resilient, strong, and unbreakable people.
SHARE if this story inspired you to face a difficult challenge!
Rebekah Gregory may have lost her leg but she has not lost her courage (or sense of humor) one bit!
"This is the day....I take my life back," Gregory wrote on the day of the Boston Marathon.
"I will never again look down and see two real feet. And some days that's still hard to process. But in those moments I try to remind myself what I get to see instead: A second chance at life. Another opportunity to do it better than before and love every single moment," she said of her new prosthetic leg.
Hear her incredible story in the video below!
