For many years I attended an annual women’s summit at Rhode Island’s Bryant University where I listened to dozens of speeches, many given by celebrities. However, the most memorable speaker I heard at these conferences was not a celebrity. She was a young woman named Heather Abbott, and in 2016, when she told her story, she captured the attention of the audience as few others have.

She and her friends had gone into Boston to see a Red Sox baseball game. At some point during the game, they decided to leave and go to the annual Boston Marathon. The date was April 15, 2013 – the day when two terrorists planted two bombs at the marathon. An 8-year-old boy was killed. His younger sister lost her leg. In total, three people were killed and more than 500 were wounded.

Heather was one of the wounded. Blown through the doorway of a restaurant, she said that her leg and foot felt as if they were on fire. Too afraid to look, she averted her eyes, but when others approached her, the look of horror on their faces spoke volumes.

After three surgeries, the doctors presented her with two options: continue having many surgeries that would go on for years and would bring much pain and little chance of ever walking, or have her leg amputated below the knee. She eventually chose the latter.

In the most compelling part of her speech, she spoke of her struggle to let go of thoughts, such as: If only she had stayed at that baseball game. If only she hadn’t gone to the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)