Marathon Bombing Survivor Writes Letter To Tsarnaev
BOSTON (CBS) – Marathon bombing survivor Rebekah Gregory says it took nearly two years, but she is no longer afraid of the man accused in the attack.
Rebekah lost a leg in the bombings and was among the first witnesses to testify against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday.
To Rebekah, the written letter is not a lost art. Shortly after she testified, she wrote a letter to Tsarnaev and posted it on Facebook. She wrote: My name is Rebekah Gregory. … Up until now, I have been truly scared of you and because of this, fearful of everything else people might be capable of. But today, all that changed. Because this afternoon, I got to walk into a courtroom and take my place at the witness stand, just a few feet away from where you were sitting. (I was WALKING. Did you get that?)"
She was walking on a new prosthesis.
"I had to cut it out of my life for good," she told WBZ-TV. This past fall, after more than a dozen surgeries, she decided to have her leg amputated; but not before writing to her leg in marker: "It's not you, it's me."
On Wednesday night she wrote about a new type of freedom.
In the letter, she said, "you have undoubtedly been my source of fear since April 15th, 2013."
But that all changed when she came face to face with him in the courtroom.
"TODAY...I looked at you right in the face....and realized I wasn't afraid anymore. And today I realized that sitting across from you was somehow the crazy kind of step forward that I needed all along."
READ: Rebekah Gregory's Letter On Facebook
Rebekah says she is now more appreciative of every new day.
"So now...while you are sitting in solitary confinement, (awaiting the verdict on your life), I will be actually ENJOYING everything this beautiful world has to offer."
She signed the letter, "Someone you shouldn't have messed with."
Just last week Gregory spoke about the breakup with her recent husband, who was also injured in the blast. She spoke about moving forward and actually plans to run in this year's marathon.
