Roseann Sdoia Materia 2025 A Profile in Courage: Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor robostrong.com -303

The Story Behind Her Success

There were two flashes of white light at my feet, like quick fireworks, and then everything went black. My brain knew that my right leg was beyond repair. -Roseann Sdoia Materia

April 15, 2013: That’s the day the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon finish line. This is the story of an innocent bystander who lost her right leg when the second bomb went off in front of the Forum Restaurant. Roseann Sdoia Materia’s life would be saved that day by three people who stepped into the smoke and mayhem to save her life: college student Shores Salter, Boston police officer Shana Cottone, and Boston firefighter Mike Matteria risked their lives to help her, and their story is told in Roseann’s memoir: Perfect Strangers: Friendship, Strength and Recovery After Boston’s Worst Day. Originally released as part of this series in 2018, the interview brings the listener into the events of that day, when brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev unleashed a terror attack using homemade pressure cooker bombs planted near the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring 264. Days later, the brothers would also kill MIT police officer Sean Collier. Treated by trauma surgeon Daniel King, MD at Mass General, Roseann explains how fortunate she was to have a doctor who had experienced treating soldiers wounded by IEDs during his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Beyond the details of what happened on that fateful day, Roseann’s story is a profile in courage as she struggled to accept the loss of her leg and a new reality as an amputee. Says Roseann, “Courage is getting up every day and facing the world. Some days you have it and some days, you don’t. “ The founder of robostrong.com, she is an in-demand public speaker, an advocate for amputees everywhere, and a supporter of the many charities that have been born out of the bombings. The friendships Roseann forged with those who rescued her remain strong. In fact, Roseann married firefighter Mike Materia! For 23 minutes of strength, courage, community, and the resiliency of the human spirit, just hit that download button. #bostonmarathonbombings #bostonmarathon #bostonstrong #massgeneralhospital#spauldingrehab