It's been a decade since Jacqui Webb was treated at Tufts Medical Center for wounds sustained during the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. She still remembers the long line of doctors and nurses ready to meet her as the paramedics wheeled her into the Emergency Department that day.
In shock and suffering from second- and third-degree burns and shrapnel injuries, Jacqui admits it was difficult to grasp the immensity of the situation, "It was devastating. I didn't understand what was happening to me."
The care she experienced was extraordinary, she recounts, from the beginning when a nurse offered to call her mother to let her know Jacqui's whereabouts, to her time on Proger 5 North where she grew so close to her trauma team, she now calls the team family.
"I still check in with two of the residents who cared for me," said Jacqui. "I have to smile when I think about my time at Tufts."
The irony of that statement is not lost on the 35-year old realtor from Stoneham, Massachusetts. Jacqui was the first of 19 marathon patients who entered the doors of Tufts Medical Center's Emergency Department that day. Her time at the hospital lasted nearly three weeks, making hers the longest stay of any of the Marathon bombing survivors.
"I fully trusted my care team; they went above and beyond and advocated for me in so many ways," she said. "I would not be where I am today if not for the care they provided."
Jacqui and a group of six gathered near the Forum Restaurant on Boylston St. to watch a friend run the race when the first bomb went off a block away. As they ran to flee, the scene quickly turned to chaos as the second bomb exploded nearby injuring Jacqui and her fiancé, Paul Norden, who lost his leg.
Each year on the anniversary of April 15, Jacqui makes an effort to return to the medical center to "show my gratitude to the staff there." Some years she has lunch delivered to staff on Proger 5 North and, during the pandemic, she sent 200 individually wrapped roses.
In the years since, both Jacqui and Paul have found satisfaction in doing philanthropic work. As a way to honor their commitment to give back and to pay homage to the 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, the couple started The Webb Norden Foundation in support of children and young adults affected by trauma. The foundation recently made a donation to a patient at Tufts Medical Center.
Eight years after being discharged from Tufts Medical Center, Jacqui was back. This time to give birth to her daughter Ella, who is now 18 months old. For Jacqui, giving birth at Tufts Medical Center was the obvious choice.
"I said 'if I had a child, I would go back to Tufts'," she said.
It was an added benefit for Jacqui to soon learn that the mother/infant nurse caring for her, Nichole Casper, RN, had also been her nurse when she stayed on Proger 5 North in 2013.
"It is always heartwarming when I see or hear from someone at Tufts Medical Center where remember my hospital stay," said Jacqui. "I feel like they are longtime friends. I left a piece of my heart at Tufts Medical Center and that is a testament to the staff. It was truly a blessing that I ended up here."
