At the Sun-Rise & Reflect Session at Emergency Nursing 2026, Adrianne Haslet thanked the nurses who cared for her in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
On a sunny spring day in Boston, Adrianne Haslet took a rare day off from her job as a professional ballroom dancer after receiving some harsh criticism from her coach. She wandered the streets of Boston’s posh Back Bay neighborhood, decompressing from the high stress, extreme scrutiny and rigorous training that are part and parcel of her profession. Haslett ultimately found herself among hundreds of people cheering on the runners crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Little did she know that fateful day would forever change her life.
At the Sun-Rise & Reflect Session at Emergency Nursing 2026, Haslet shared her harrowing yet inspirational story of how she survived the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, in which she lost part of her left leg. Attendees were moved to tears as Haslet recalled navigating her difficult road to recovery and rebuilding her life — sharing the lessons she learned along the way about gratitude, perseverance and overcoming adversity.
After she arrived at the Boston Marathon, Haslet soon heard the first bomb explode, feeling the ground shake and engulfed by black smoke billowing around her. The second bomb detonated about 14 seconds later near her, throwing Haslet to the ground. As she tamped down the embers that had singed her eyebrow and hair, she saw a huge gash above her right knee. That’s when she noticed the blast has severed her other leg. “I’m trying to raise my left leg, and I realize it’s just gone,” she said.
Collective Humanity
As she contended with excruciating pain and profuse bleeding, Haslet struggled to turn herself over and crawl to get away from the chaos of people running and screaming around her. An off-duty doctor pulled her up and dragged her to a nearby restaurant, where he and an employee of the restaurant tied tourniquets around her legs as they waited for EMTs to take her to the nearest emergency department.
At the ED, the physicians and nurses kept slipping on Haslet’s blood as they treated her wounds. The nurses held her hand and comforted her, encouraging her to call her family before she went into surgery. One nurse held a blanket over her to muffle the screams in the background while Haslett told her mother and father about the bombing and that she may not come out of the surgery alive. “I said the hardest, most awful, most heartbreaking goodbye of my life to each one of them,’” she said.
But Haslet did survive the surgery. As she recovered at the hospital, she found solace in the nurses and physicians who were just as traumatized as she was. Just as they had comforted her, she reminded them they are allowed to be fallible given the devastating and tragic circumstances they endured.
“Sometimes you need to remember that even when you don’t get it right, [patients] don’t remember that,” Haslett said. “What we remember is that you held our hand. What we remember is that you were there with us in our darkest moments.”
High Aspirations
Attendees were inspired and enthralled by Haslet’s story of survival and resilience.
After she was released from the hospital, Haslet set her sights on competing in the Boston Marathon — a lofty goal for someone who didn’t like running. Three years later, she fulfilled that goal. But on the day of the race, Haslett started to have a panic attack thinking about the physical and mental challenges of running 26.2 miles. That’s when one of her friends put the race in perspective. He reassured her that she was prepared to take on this formidable task because she had already survived a deadly terrorist attack. “He said, ‘Adrianne, what will get you to the finish line is nothing compared to what got you to the start,’” she explained.
Running on a prosthetic blade, Haslet finished last, crossing the finish line in 10 hours and 30 minutes. She was happy with her performance. But it compelled her to advocate for a para athletics division for the Boston Marathon. The Boston Athletic Association introduced the division with the 2020 race.
“I tried because I know it isn’t about finding a seat at the table where you don’t belong,” Haslet said. “It’s about creating an entirely new room, an entirely new table for those behind you.”
Levelling Up
Haslet was also determined to win the 2022 Boston Marathon para athletics division. But she knew it would require structured and deliberate training to build the endurance and strength she needed to be competitive.
“My grandfather used to say, ‘We have no right to the cards we think we should have been dealt, but we have an obligation to play the hell out of the hand we’re holding,’” Haslet said. “And so, I thought I had a lot of cards not go my way. I should not play poker, but I can stack the deck.”
To prepare for the race, she reached out to Olympic medalist and long-distance runner Shalane Flanagan, who agreed to coach her. Haslet moved to Oregon to live and train with Flanagan for a few months, sticking to a healthy diet and strict training regimen.
That commitment set Haslet up for success. Cheered on by spectators, she crossed the finish line in fourth place, clocking in at five hours and 18 minutes — nearly half the time of her first run.
Haslet credits that achievement not only to her tenacity and perseverance but also to the community of friends and family who supported her.
“All it takes is one person to believe in you,” she said. “That’s why we say our dreams out loud.”