Tony and Mary Ruth Casey of Herculaneum and Heather Lang of House Springs were relieved to return home Tuesday (April 16) from a trip to Boston for the marathon that ended abruptly Monday afternoon, after two bombs exploded near the finish line.
All three were unharmed.
As of Tuesday, officials reported that three people had died and more than 170 had been wounded, many of those with critical injuries.
Caseys
Tony Casey, 71, said he was standing at the finish line waiting his wife to finish, when the first bomb went off.
"I was within 15 yards of the blast," he said.
Casey said people were lying on the ground badly hurt. Blood was on the ground around him.
"I ran to meet Mary Ruth, who was about one-fourth mile from the finish line, but the police had already backed those people up," he said. "I was running toward the second bomb and they stopped me and made me go back."
Casey said he was able to reach Mary Ruth, 57, by phone then.
Casey serves on the NextStep board of directors and formerly was executive director for the county's services for the disabled.
Lang works for NextStep, and Casey already knew she was OK.
Lang
Lang, 37, said she had just finished the marathon when the bombs went off and fled the area as quickly as she could.
"We were all confused. There was a lot of confusion in the area," she said. "We just kept walking and walking. Traffic was backed up everywhere and there were no taxis. We eventually ended up at a police department and waited there about two hours to get a taxi."
Lang returned to St. Louis at about 9 a.m. Tuesday morning and was eager for school to end so she could see her two sons, Tristan Jacobson, 11, and Logan Jacobson, 9.
Lang said her body was aching Tuesday, like it always does after running a marathon, but mentally she didn't feel the high she normally does following a race.
PHOTO: Heather Lang at the Boston Marathon.
For more details, see the story in the April 18 issue of the Jefferson County Leader.
--Kim Robertson
