Boston Marathon Survivor Dances Across Finish Line

When Adrianne Haslet-Davis lost her left foot in the Boston Marathon bombing in April of 2013, the professional ballroom dancer worried that she would never dance again. Shortly after the bombings, she said in an interview with CNN, "I feel like somebody has come along and said, 'Oh, we're not going to let you do that anymore.’ I'm going to prove them wrong." Two years later, Haslet-Davis has “proven them wrong” in a moving return to the site of the bombings: This week, the survivor danced across the Boston Marathon finish line, and it was glorious.

On Tuesday morning, traffic in Boston was diverted so that Haslet-Davis could foxtrot across the painted finish line of the marathon. Video shows her gliding smoothly with her partner, a picture of complete elegance and poise. Shortly after the bombings, she described to CNN the role that dancing plays in her life, saying, "Dancing is the one thing I do that when I do it, I don't feel like I should be doing anything else ever. I feel so free." With the help of extensive physical therapy and an advanced prosthetic leg designed especially for dancing, Haslet-Davis has been able to reclaim her life as a dancer. On Tuesday, she described dancing on the finish line to the Boston Herald as a kind of renewal, saying,

The finish line will never be the same. It will still stand for grit and glory for runners, but it means so much more to so many people. … It means another start. To accomplish something I thought was only a dream.

Tuesday’s dance seems like a happy finish to a very tough couple of weeks. Last week, Haslet-Davis testified at the death penalty trial of terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, an experience she described to the Boston Herald as “incredibly difficult.” She explained, “Nothing can prepare you for being in a room with that thing. I had a job to do and tell my story and I feel good about it.”

Get some tissues and watch the video of Haslet-Davis’s dance below. You’ll be crying happy tears.

Image: YouTube