HOUSTON - After a year and a half of recovery and now an amputation, a local survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing says she's cut off the one thing holding her back. Rebekah DiMartino is recovering at Memorial Hermann Katy where special visitors flew in from across the country to cheer her on.
"Just hug me," said Rebekah, who just had her leg amputated.
It's a simple gesture that from these Boston nurses means the world.
"These people are the ones that saved my life, they are crazy," said Rebekah.
They made the trip for this moment, to stand beside Rebekah, because they've been there since the beginning.
"You cannot, not love this girl," said one of the nurses.
"I still remember that day every single day," Rebekah said about the day the bomb went off in Boston.
"I had swelling, I had pain and I had exhaustion every single day," she said.
Rebekah had 17 surgeries to try and save her leg. Then just days ago decided with her doctors to have it amputated.
"I don't want people to be sad, this is the greatest thing ever and my break up letter, it signified all of that for me," she said.
Rebekah, who's from Richmond in Fort Bend County, posted that break up letter to her leg on Facebook.
"Holy cow!" she said, reacting to the response from people across the world that took her breath away.
"I'm so humbled that people would take time out of their day to just wish me well," said Rebekah.
Her son Noah, who is 7, even warmed up to the idea of a prosthetic leg.
"He goes that's really cool, you're gonna be a part robot mom"
Her husband Pete has no doubt she will master the robotics.
"She is very stubborn, which is not really a bad thing because she will be told she can't do something and she just tries to do it anyway," said Pete DiMartino.
To Rebekah, her recovery has a bigger meaning.
"It's a constant reminder to not let the terrorists win," she said.
And she has the faith, "I find my strength in the Lord."
And the will, "I just want to use this and my recovery as a chance to inspire others."
To show people there's more to life than what the bomb took away.
"I feel like it's my calling."
Eventually Rebekah will be fitted for a prosthetic.
She's expected to go to a rehabilitation center for physical therapy sometime in the next few days.
Related: Boston Marathan bombing victim has successful surgery
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