![]() I always wear cowboy hats and have about 10 of them that I wear for work and going out. Your cowboy hat is now famous from the picture of you on the day of the bombings. Arredondo also lost a second son, who committed suicide. Arredondo is asking the president to dedicate a building in honor of his son, a soldier killed in the early days of the Iraq war. Congress to provide better benefits to U.S.Ĭarlos Arredondo hangs out at the Hotel Real Intercontinental in Escazú Friday night, hoping to catch a moment with U.S. Currently we are working with other organizations and are in conversations with the U.S. The reason I am doing that is because my youngest son committed suicide. It is a grave crisis and we are trying to combine an organization called Samaritans ofīoston, which works to prevent suicide, with the Veteran’s Hospital. In the U.S., we lose 22 veterans a day due to suicide. I am now very concentrated in working to spread the word about some serious problems in the U.S. How has your life changed since that day? I am hoping that soon he will come to visit Costa Rica. Have gone to see him four times in the hospital and we talk quite a bit by email. Jeff remains in high spirits and is feeling better. But, thanks to God, he has healed quite quickly. He lost both legs and suffered second and third-degree burns on his body. He is 27 years old and from Massachusetts. I read that you have remained in contact with him. In the picture of you from the marathon, you were helping a man after he was wounded in the bombings. Almost all of them were on the ground injured. All the people that were standing in the area where the bomb went off were no longer After the sound of the bomb, there was a ball of fire and afterwards smoke. So many people lost legs and 280 people were injured. After the bomb exploded, I just reacted as quickly as I could to get to where it went off to help anyone I could find flags to people there and supporting the soldiers and veterans that were running. We were there very early in the morning giving U.S. ![]() What was it like to be in Boston on the day of the bombings? ![]() Ground, would have done the same thing I did. ![]() Anyone in that situation, looking at all the injured people lying on the ![]() I thank God that I wasn’t injured and was able to help out those that were as quickly as possible. I did what anyone else would have done in that situation. TT: How does it feel to be referred to as a hero?ĬA: (laughs) Well, I don’t consider myself a hero. military veterans.Įarly Saturday morning, Arredondo – covered in silver body paint – was seen standing on a chair in San José’s Plaza de la Democracia, being photographed for a year-end “People of the Year” issue by the daily La Nación.Īrredondo sat down with The Tico Times on Friday to discuss his human rights work, his colorful history, and how the Boston Marathon bombing changed his life forever. His next goal was to speak with Obama to promote Boston Samaritans, a suicide prevention organization, and to lobby for more support for U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Boston in the days following the bombings, was in town over the weekend to meet with Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. Yet, amid the presidential buzz, a familiar face – one that dominated international news reports last month – silently stole the spotlight as he sipped a beer near the lobby bar.ĭonning his famed folded cowboy hat, and with wide eyes and long curly locks, Carlos Arredondo – the Costa Rican who achieved hero status for his efforts to save injured victims of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings – sat patiently in the lobby.Ī now-famous photo of Arredondo taken as he assisted wounded runner Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the bombing, has since emerged as the international image of heroism amid the tragedy of that day.Īrredondo, who said he shook hands with U.S. When the massive presidential motorcade roared in around 9:30 p.m., Secret Service agents spilled out of vans toting assault rifles, hoards of hulking security personnel surrounded the front entrance, and what appeared to be the entire hotel staff scurried around to usher the distinguished guests to their rooms. With the President of the United States as a registered guest at the Hotel Real Intercontinental in Escazú on Friday night, the scene in the lobby was one of unordinary sightings. ![]()
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