Newton Doctor: Marathon Finish Line Was a 'Gruesome Sight'

He remembers the scores of people bloodied by the first explosion. He remembers seeing limbs on the ground and the frantic scene in those injured being wheeled or carried away.

But one thing Jonathan Kaplan says he doesn't remember is hearing the second bomb go off.

In describing the chaos at the Boston Marathon finish line, the Newton doctor, who was working one of the medical tents and treating runners as they finished the race, can only describe that day as gruesome.

Kaplan, who is a partner at Newton Family Foot Care in West Newton, has worked the past 25 Boston Marathons and said this year's was like any other.

"That day I got there about 7–7:30 in the morning. It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather. Everything was going well," says Kaplan, a Sudbury resident.

He was helping a few runners who sustained minor injuries throughout the day. All seemed normal. Kaplan said he walked outside the medical tent around 2:30 p.m. to glance at the runners' numbers to gauge where race was.

"I was seeing numbers around 16,000 to 17,000," he says. "I was going back in tent and I started treating these Army soldiers who were dressed in fatigues, carrying 70-pound packs. Their feet were a mess — bloddy and sore. I was teasing them about their time, looking at my watch. The mood was light and relaxed."

About 20 minutes later was when he heard the first bomb go off.

"Everyone was startled. It was really loud," he says "I heard a colleague say it sounded like a generator. But the soldiers looked at each other and knew right away it was a bomb."

Kaplan says the soldiers quickly put their bloodied socks and shoes back on, jumped off the treatment table to begin helping the injured.

"Everyone was very confused," he says. "We’re thinking, 'How could it be a bomb?' It was a crazy thought."

Medical personnel were still treating runners from the race itself when people started entering the tent bloodied from wounds to their heads and shoulders.

And that's when the second explosion happened.

"I was so stunned I don't recall hearing the second bomb," he says. "Next thing I saw a guy with both legs missing from the explosion. He went right by me, 10 feet away. That's when I realized this was something serious."

The guy was 27-year-old Jeff Bauman. The picture of him being wheeled out of the danger zone by 52-year-old Costa Rican immigrant Carlos Arredondo has circulated worldwide.

Kaplan ran back to his tent to organize his team. One runner was treated after a piece of shrapnel went through his foot. A colleague grabbed some bandages and gloves and sprinted toward the finish line to help others.

"When I got to ground zero, the first thing I noticed was all the glass on the buildings (were blown out)," he says. "Then I noticed the amount of blood on ground. It was incredible the sight I saw — people wrapping wounds, legs, body parts (were on the ground) ... it was gruesome sight."

Kaplan said the next few days for him were dark.

"I'm not trained for this. I didn’t expect to see this," he says. "It was quite emotional and terrifying."

There was even a report a third bomb may have been inside his tent.

"I told everyone to call their loved ones so they knew they were OK," he says. "Thirty or 40 mintues later, I realized I hadn’t called my family. I looked at my cell phone and there were 15 or 16 text messages. It's so nice to know you have friends who care about you."

Kaplan hugged his wife when he finally got home that day, and went to work the next day, something he now regrets.

"I don’t remember seeing anyone, I was in such a fog," he says. "My mind was not in the right place. We had vacation planned on Wednesday, and I was torn about going."

But now, two weeks after the horrific terrorist acts, the father of two adult kids is starting to heal.

"Today I'm doing much better," he says, explaining how a support group has helped him move on from that day. "Talking to people at some extent helps, getting it off my chest helps. I'm still angry at times, upset at times. A couple of nights I woke up in nightmarish, cold sweat. I saw things you shouldn’t see. It was very terrifying."

Kaplan says the lasting image from that day is the Army soldiers jumping into action after running that grueling marathon with 70-pound packs on their backs. How they knew right away what had happened, and ran to help those injured.

"I'm so proud of the way people handled things in the medical tent," he says. "There were people comforting each other. I'm proud of how my group handled it."

And now he's planning to be part of his 26th Boston Marathon.

"It was a tough ride home," he says. "I was thinking, 'I’m done, I'm not working another Boston Marathon.' But now I wouldn’t miss it for anything."

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