Join us for a heartfelt conversation with Rebecca Gregory as she recounts her compelling story of survival following the Boston Marathon bombing. In an interview that explores the depths of trauma, healing, and spiritual resilience, Rebecca opens up about her journey from despair to empowerment. Learn how she turned tragedy into a mission of advocacy and support for others facing similar struggles. This episode is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome and find purpose through faith and community.
Hello everyone, this is James Dobson and you’re listening to Family Talk, a division of James Dobson Family Institute. And I want to start today’s program with a declarative statement. You may have noticed that life is not fair and it can be very difficult. If you believe that it’s supposed to be problem free and you’ve gone through some very hard knocks with your life, you’re likely to feel victimized and demoralized by society or even by God. It’s a horrible feeling that can paralyze a person in their circumstances. And we’re talking to some people today who are there, some who have been through really difficult times, and they’re clinically depressed and confused with life and angry at others who they perceive as being luckier than they, and they might blame God. for their circumstances. I want to offer some hope to them and to all of us, because life is difficult, and it is not perfect, and it was never intended to be. And if you think it is, look at some of the heroes in the Bible, and they’ve gone through some very, very difficult things too. starting with Job. But I want you to meet a woman whom I met an hour ago. She is a delightful person, and she’s had her share of difficulties. And the way she’s dealt with it has been an inspiration to others. She’s Rebecca Gregory, and she has written a book called Taking My Life Back. The Story of My Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing. That’ll tell you where we’re going today. Rebecca, I’m so glad to have you here.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is an absolute honor, Dr. Dobson, to be here.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I do. About tough times.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, I’ve had some tough times, I would say.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, let’s start by talking about the most difficult one. Take us back to April 15, 2013, your birthday, as a matter of fact, wasn’t it? When you were attending the Boston Marathon, and you were near the finish line, and tell us what happened. We remember it from the headlines in the news and on television, but you experienced it. Tell us about it.
SPEAKER 02 :
It was a great weekend, actually. It was my first time ever in the city of Boston, my 26th birthday weekend. I had gone up there to watch someone, a friend of ours, run. And oftentimes I joke that people think I was automatically running in the Boston Marathon. And I’m like, no, no, I was on the sidelines eating chocolate-covered pretzels wondering why anyone runs 26.2 miles. But I had also taken my son up with me and he was five at the time, Noah. And we caught a Red Sox game. We toured the city and we were all packed up, ready to go back home to Texas as soon as that marathon concluded on Monday. And we started out the day at the 17 mile marker. We were tracking our runner with an app on our phones. And so we’re there holding up our signs and everybody’s excited.
SPEAKER 03 :
So you weren’t stable. You were moving.
SPEAKER 02 :
We were moving. We were wanting to see her actually finish the race. And so we were trying to keep up with her. And then what people don’t tell you is that when you’re watching someone else run a marathon, then you end up running the marathon with them to try to cheer them on. Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yeah. And you were doing that.
SPEAKER 02 :
We were doing that. And I was also trying to keep my five-year-old son occupied because then I started to question why in the world did I bring a kindergartner to a race of half a million people?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, tell us what happened.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, so we started at the 17 mile marker and then one of our people in our group of about nine said, hey, why don’t we go down to the finish line and actually be able to see our runner cross? And so everyone thought it was a great idea. And we started making our way through the crowds and trying to push our way through the people and. During this time, Noah, my son, was getting really, really bored and he starts tugging on my clothes and asking when we’re going to leave. And I remember getting to our spot right there at the finish and it was a great spot. We were right in the middle of the action.
SPEAKER 03 :
How’d you find it? I mean, everybody wants to be at the finish line.
SPEAKER 02 :
We pushed our way through. We got there. We were determined. And we were there. We could see everybody cross. And they just had these huge smiles on their faces. That’s a big goal to run the Boston Marathon. And it was really cool to see that. But Noah just kept getting more and more bored. He said, Mom, come on. Do you have any toys for me to play with? I’m so bored and tugging on my clothes. And I said, Noah, buddy, why don’t you sit down on my feet and play in the rocks like you’re a scientist? And there were no rocks. We were on asphalt. But to a five-year-old, that was cool. And so Noah sat down on my feet with his back against my shins. And that’s exactly where he was when a bomb in a backpack went off three feet behind us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Three feet.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And 260 were injured. Yes. What an incredible moment. How about yourself?
SPEAKER 02 :
It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, obviously, and something that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. The hardest part of that day was not the physical, though. It was the emotional. It was everything that not only I saw, but my son saw as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
Everybody was screaming.
SPEAKER 02 :
Everyone was screaming. I could not move anything but my head. My bones were laying next to me on the sidewalk. My left leg was on fire. There were people’s body parts all around us that weren’t even attached to them. There were nails, BBs, ball bearings, everything that these brothers packed into these pressure cooker bombs. And it was a true war scene.
SPEAKER 03 :
They had run. One of them that was responsible for the final stage of the bomb ran, didn’t he?
SPEAKER 02 :
He wanted to get a second bomb placed down.
SPEAKER 03 :
A second bomb.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. So there was one that we were at the first one, and then a couple hundred feet away from us was another backpack with a bomb in it.
SPEAKER 03 :
What happened? Explain what took place then. Paramedics came from everywhere.
SPEAKER 02 :
It was chaos. I mean, it was true chaos. And it did feel like we were in the war. I mean, the things that we saw are what you see when when soldiers are overseas. And it was just the scariest moments of my life. And it was honestly the day that I thought that I was for sure going to die.
SPEAKER 03 :
You were terribly injured, though.
SPEAKER 02 :
I was. And a guy, I remember he tied a tourniquet around my leg and some others lifted me onto a gurney. And I said a prayer. I said, God, if this is it, take me, but let me know that my son is okay. And right after that, I saw in my peripheral vision, Noah being picked up by a police officer. And I could see that his leg was bleeding, but he was nowhere near as injured as I was. And then I thought I really was going to die because God just gave me confirmation that Noah’s OK. So now it’s my turn. But it was really a way of allowing me to say, OK, now I need to take care of myself. And when I look back on that day, as horrible as it was, what I see are the first responders and the innocent bystanders that rushed in to save our lives, not knowing that If a third or a fourth or a fifth bomb was getting ready to go off. And I see the people that were brave enough to put us on those gurneys and transfer us to the ambulance in a hospital. And those are the reasons that I’m here.
SPEAKER 03 :
And these were not paramedics.
SPEAKER 02 :
These were people that were just coming to help people that, you know, had just crossed the finish line or were standing at the tents. I mean, everyone rushed in to help save us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Did you see the people dying? Were they close enough to you?
SPEAKER 02 :
I saw everything. And there’s so many images that will be burned into my head forever of that day. But I saw angels, too. And that’s what I take away from it. With as horrible as that scene was, I see the angels that rushed in to help us. And then the bombing happened once. right after a drill the year before. So if it was in another city, they would not have been as equipped and prepared to handle it. And everyone that got off the street all made it to a hospital and all are alive today because all of the major trauma hospitals were within a half mile radius of when it happened.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, one of the victims who died was a little boy, wasn’t it?
SPEAKER 02 :
He was.
SPEAKER 03 :
As I recall.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. There was two ladies and then a police officer that died in the shootout and then another police officer that died as a result of his injuries, too.
SPEAKER 03 :
Rebecca, were you panicked? You said you thought you were going to die. Describe your reaction.
SPEAKER 02 :
I was panicked because I didn’t know what had happened, and that was the scariest part. I knew that it was something terrible, but looking at myself and just being able to see the scenes that I saw, my bones laying next to me, my leg on fire, I was bleeding out at a very rapid pace. But at that moment, my mom instincts kicked in, and I just wanted my son to be okay. And I remember the long ambulance ride to the hospital. It felt like forever. And I remember being in the most excruciating pain in my entire life and just begging them to put me to sleep or give me medicine to help knock this out. I just I just wanted it to go away. And I got to the hospital and that’s when they placed me in a medically induced coma. But the amazing part is, is that Noah and I actually got separated. We went to two separate hospitals. But my medically induced coma was for a couple of days. And about the fifth day, I was really waking up and coherent enough to know what was going on. And it was the same day that Noah was coming to visit me in my hospital. And so I felt like that was God’s way of saying, OK, rest. I’ve got this and we’re going to give you some rest.
SPEAKER 03 :
When the bombing occurred, did Noah see it? And then you were separated. Was that terribly traumatic for him?
SPEAKER 02 :
It was so traumatic for him. Noah could remember everything at one point from that day. So he would ask about specific people and specific clothing. And you would look back at the first scene of the bomb. And sure enough, these people that he’s describing are right there. He lost his innocence that day. I thought he was never going to be OK again. And I spent 56 days in the hospital initially. And the first thing that he said to me when I got home, when I was wheeled in a wheelchair to my mom’s house because I could no longer even go to our own house, my little boy came out and he said, don’t worry, mom, we are never leaving this house again. And it was on the way home from the hospital that my own trauma and PTSD set in because I had been confined to this one room for 56 days with the same nurses and same doctors taking care of me. And then all of a sudden, I felt like every single person was out to get me and all of this trouble. And I was going to die before I got home.
SPEAKER 03 :
How was your PTSD manifested?
SPEAKER 02 :
It just manifested in the way that as soon as I left the comfort of that hospital, it was like every noise, every car, every person that we saw. And even in the house, in my mom’s house, the familiar sounds of her dog barking and my little sister and Noah even playing in the room, it was enough to terrify me. And I remember flashbacks, nightmares, loud noises. There was a time.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s an unbelievably evil thing to do to innocent people, just people standing there enjoying the marathon. And to do that with children all around, you know, one of the men who did that is now dead, right? And the other one, what’s he doing? He’s obviously in prison. Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
He is, and he got the death penalty. I actually had to go back and testify in the trial of the remaining bomber, and that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, there’s a big debate over the death penalty, and there are people out there who say that this is not a Christian response. Boy, when I see something like this, justice just calls out for it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
I mean, that young man should not live. He should be— executed. And he has a death sentence hanging over him, but it may not be for 20 years or longer.
SPEAKER 02 :
I’m with you because, you know, I feel like we have free will. And when you do something that terrible, I mean, there’s consequences to those actions. And I remember sitting in court and he had absolutely no remorse on his face. He was leaning back in his chair, fiddling with his pencil, cracking jokes with his attorney. And I went back and I gave a victim impact statement. And the whole time I stared at him, I felt like I was staring at the face of the devil because his eyes were just black. You couldn’t see his soul. And when you talk to people, you feel their heart and you feel their compassion. And there was none of that. There was no remorse. There was there was no I’m sorry for anything that he’s done.
SPEAKER 03 :
You feel anger toward him?
SPEAKER 02 :
I didn’t feel angry until I went to the trial and I saw the lack of remorse. And then I saw the families of the victims that had to come in and rehash these terrible moments of their lives. And that was hard. It was hard. And people ask me about forgiveness. And as a Christian, we’re supposed to forgive. And I think that forgiveness is a process. And I think that I’m closer now than I was six years ago. But that man almost took my son from me. He did take my leg from me and he changed the entire course of my life. But if I was to give in to that anger and if I held that in my heart, then that would only mean that I couldn’t move forward. So I try not to hold on to that resentment and I try to do everything that I did before and even more because I have a new appreciation for life now.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I may have a different take on that. an angry response to something like that. I’m not sure that the scriptures support those who say, having gone through that, you can get to the point where you don’t feel upset or anger toward people. I don’t think that is right. You can control what you do with the way you feel, but feelings are neither right or wrong. They just are. Right. You can’t help what you feel, but you can forgive and sometimes not forget. Yes. You have not forgotten, have you?
SPEAKER 02 :
I haven’t.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it’s unreasonable for people to say you should be able to get so far beyond that. You don’t feel what you went through or what these men have done to you.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s still with me every day. Every day I wake up and I either reach for a wheelchair or I reach for a prosthetic leg as a result of what happened that day. I still have hundreds of pieces of metal and shrapnel in my body that I’m still continuing to go through surgeries for.
SPEAKER 03 :
And they tried to save your leg for a while, didn’t they?
SPEAKER 02 :
They did. For a year and a half, I went through constant surgeries and tried to do limb salvage. And I’m really appreciative of that time just because when you can do nothing and you’re so broken, I feel like that’s when God really just comes into your life and makes you whole and gives you peace, as weird as that may sound. Like for me, I went from a night where I wanted to die – And I was just like, why am I spared from this? Like, what could I possibly have or what could you possibly have in store for me? What is the purpose? And right around that time was when my son Noah came running into the room and just cuddled up with me on the bed that I was laying on. And he said, you know what, Mom? We’re good, right? We’re going to get through this. And I’m like, okay, Lord.
SPEAKER 03 :
What a gift.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, Lord. Yes. And he’s done that for me so many different times. Whenever I start to doubt myself, whenever I start to feel sorry for something, I look at my little boy and I’m like, I have nothing to feel sorry for.
SPEAKER 03 :
What led you to write this book? It’s called Taking My Life Back. What a great title. And the subtitle I like also, My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing. There’s a resiliency in that title. Is it really true? Have you taken your life back?
SPEAKER 02 :
I feel like I take my life back every single day I decide to not give up and continue to pick up the pieces and continue to know that God is in control of it all. The majority of people, I say, are not going to get blown up by a bomb at a marathon, but every single person has life blow up in their face. And my life has been a series of different traumas.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is so good. I’d like you to say it again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sure. The majority of people will never get blown up by a bomb at a marathon, but every single person has life blow up in their face. And I’ve had traumas ever since I can remember. It started out with an abusive dad who was supposed to be an evangelist and traveled all over the world preaching God’s love and came home and beat me and my mom. And then it continued on through my teen years. I got into… a really terrible car accident that should have taken my life. Six months before Boston, I actually got held up in a Walmart parking lot and robbed at gunpoint. And so for me, writing this book meant being vulnerable and exposing the toughest parts of my life so that maybe someone else that’s going through their own stuff can resonate and maybe they can get through something and cling to God like I did. Because there’s been so many times in my life where, I go my own way and I’m on my own path. And for instance, I had a baby at 20 years old. But when I decided that I was going to give it all to God and everything and not go my own way anymore, it was just my life transformed.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so he has been there for you through the tough times.
SPEAKER 02 :
He’s always there. I think it’s really easy to look back on right before I left for Boston. I was swamped at work. I had a quota to meet. I almost canceled my trip at least five times. I pulled out my phone that night when I was still sitting at work at 1030 and I was getting ready to leave the next morning at 6 a.m. And I pulled out my phone and I almost canceled. And so that’s hard not to think about. Like, what would my life look like had I not gone on that trip, had I not been at the Boston Marathon? But everything that’s happened since now, I look at it and I’ve reconnected with my amazing husband. I had my beautiful daughter as scary as her birth was, too. We’ve created a foundation for children and families that have gone through their own trauma based on those days where we were so scared. We didn’t know what to do, that I was just frantically Googling how to help my son, how to help me, what therapies we needed. And through that research and that constant just wanting to know more, we realized the need for childhood trauma advocacy and the need to be a solution. And I feel like God has led us up to this point.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, one thing, sure, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now if this hadn’t happened. And you have an opportunity to talk to many people who need to hear what you have to say. Your title of your book here says you’re not going to give up on life, that the Lord is in control and you’re going on with your life. I like that. That needs to be said.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, for 26 years, I expected to get out of bed and put two feet on the ground. And when I couldn’t do that anymore, when I could no longer put two feet on the ground, my entire life changed. And not just physically, but emotionally. And it really made me appreciate just being able to get out of the bed at all. And my my kids being able to love on them and my husband. I mean, you know, life is beautiful, but we have to decide that we’re going to count our blessings and not count our problems.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that’s a very courageous statement in itself. And I want to talk to you another day because this isn’t the only trauma you’ve gone through. You had a really tough childhood. I did. And so really what I keep coming back to is the fact that there are people who can say, man, this is not right, this is not fair, and give up on life. And you haven’t done that despite the fact that you’ve really been kicked around a lot by life and by circumstances. And the title of your book is Taking My Life Back, My Story of Faith and Determination. You still have a faith? You’re still dependent on the Lord?
SPEAKER 02 :
My faith is stronger than ever. And I walk with the Lord. I try to walk with the Lord every single day because he directs my steps. He directs my path.
SPEAKER 03 :
Do you resent having to put on that prosthesis in the morning?
SPEAKER 02 :
As much as I would love to just throw it across the room and never look at it again. I nicknamed my leg, by the way. Her name is Felicia. And I wrapped her up in a baby blanket when I first got my prosthetic. And she was like a new member of our family. I’m not resentful because it’s a daily reminder of how short my life is. And so every day I am reminded that I almost lost my life for good. And my husband always gets kind of like, oh, Beck. But I say, if we’re not laying on the pavement fighting for our life, then it’s a good day. So if he’s fussing at traffic or if he gets his feathers a little ruffled, I say, no, babe, we’re not on the pavement today. He’s like, Beck, can you just let me have my moment, please?
SPEAKER 03 :
Rebecca, how can people get in touch with you if they want you to come speak or participate in some way? How can they reach you?
SPEAKER 02 :
They can reach me through my website at rebeccasangels.org.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for being with us today. We’re talking to Rebecca Gregory, and I want to get back into your childhood because there’s some things there we need to talk about as well. You’re a strong woman. Thanks for being with us today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, what a powerful and remarkable story of strength and resilience. And of course, today being April 15th, this marks the 12th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. It’s truly amazing how far Rebecca Gregory has come since that tragedy. I’m Roger Marsh, and I hope you’ll join us again next time for the conclusion of Rebecca’s compelling and inspiring testimony here on Family Talk. She’ll tell us about what she overcame in her childhood and about her vision for Rebecca’s Angels Foundation. And by the way, if you’d like to share today’s program with someone who would be encouraged by it, go to drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. That’s drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. Well, with Easter coming up this Sunday, there’s still time for you to take advantage of a free resource we have here at the James Dobson Family Institute that’s designed to help you share the hope of Christ with your children and your grandchildren. This free resource is a PDF. It’s called Sharing Jesus with Your Children, and it’s filled with practical guidance for introducing your kids to the life-changing message of Jesus’ resurrection. This downloadable PDF is packed with insights from Dr. Dobson about teaching your children about faith, including how to pray together, how how to memorize scripture, and how to celebrate their spiritual journey. Now, you can download this free resource right now from drjamesdobson.org. Just go to our homepage, drjamesdobson.org, and click on the link for Sharing Jesus with Your Children. This is our gift to you this Easter season to help your family draw closer to God and to each other. So for the free PDF, Sharing Jesus with Your Children, go to drjamesdobson.org. And thanks so much for your prayers and faithful financial support of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. Your encouragement to us through your prayers and your tangible expressions of support go a long way toward helping to spread this message to families that really need the encouragement. You can give a tax-deductible donation online at drjamesdobson.org. You can also call us with your gift, 877-732-6825 is the toll-free number to call. Again, 877-732-6825. Well, I’m Roger Marsh. Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to join us again next time for part two of the powerful conclusion of Dr. James Dobson’s conversation with Rebecca Gregory, a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, who literally taking my life back has become her life’s goal and the focus of her new ministry. That conversation is coming up next time right here on the next edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
