Jeff Bauman Among Survivors Facing Boston Marathon Bomber During Emotional Testimony
BOSTON (CBS) – He has become one of the most recognizable faces of that terrible afternoon. And today, Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman took the stand and faced the man responsible for taking both of his legs.
"To this day, I wonder how I stayed conscious through that time. I knew my legs were gone. I knew it instantly," Bauman testified.
Bauman told jurors how, even through the haze of pain, he spotted a guy in a cowboy hat, the man we now know is Carlos Arredondo, who rushed in to help.
"THIS IS HOW IT'S GONNA END"
Still, Bauman remembers thinking, "This is really messed up, this is messed up, this is messed up. This is how it's gonna end."
Then, he says, he thought that if he had to die at that moment, it would be ok.
"I had a great life. I saw the world. I kind of made peace with myself at that point," he told the jury.
Bauman described how, from his hospital bed, he helped the FBI identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev - who had actually bumped into him in the crowd.
"ALL I COULD SEE WAS BLOOD"
After Bauman testified, survivor Roseann Sdoia took the stand, crying through most of her testimony
"All I could see was blood pouring out sort of where my knee should have been," she said. "In front of me was a foot that had a little sock on it."
Sdoia testified that she had to struggle to realize the foot wasn't hers.
"I thought, 'I'm going to die,'" Sdoia continued. "So much so that I gave someone my sister's phone number. I couldn't have my parents getting a phone call that I died on Boylston Street."
Other witnesses from the Boston Police and the FBI told the jury about evidence-gathering and collecting all the surveillance video from Boylston Street after the blasts.
"IT WAS MUTED CHAOS"
The last witness of the day was perhaps the most anticipated, Bill Richard, the father of 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Describing in detail the worst day of his life, Richard never wavered, first telling the jury "We have a son Henry, a daughter Jane... and our son Martin is deceased."
Sitting just steps away from the man responsible for his son's death, Richard described the moments after the bombing.
"I couldn't hear much of anything; it was deafening. It was muted chaos," Richard said.
He struggled to find his wife, his son Henry, and his daughter Jane.
Finally, he found 8-year-old Martin.
"I saw a little boy who had his body severely damaged by an explosion," he told jurors, adding, "When I saw Martin's condition I knew that he wasn't going to make it."
"I NEEDED TO ACT QUICKLY"
At the same time, Jane was bleeding heavily, having lost her leg at the scene. The couple decided to leave Denise with Martin and he would take Jane and Henry to the hospital.
"I knew in my head that I needed to act quickly or we might not only lose Martin but we might lose Jane too," he testified.
As other bombing survivors in court cried, Richard stayed strong, relaying the conversation with his wife that night once the family was reconnected.
"She told me that Martin was dead. I told her, I said, 'I know'," he said
Richard's outlook remains incredible.
Describing the ringing in his ears that plagues him after the bomb blast, he told the court, "But I can still hear you, I can still hear music, I can still hear the beautiful voices of my family."