Local Podiatrist Helps Boston Marathon Bombings Victims

When bombs were detonated near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, Dr. Carl Conui described the scene as a "war zone."

Conui, 44, of Stoneham, who works at New England Foot & Ankle Specialists which has offices in Reading and Somerville, has served as a volunteer at the Boston Marathon for about 15 years. He also has performed surgeries at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.

Common Foot Ailments on Race Day

At past marathons, Conui said that the typical types of injuries he has dealt with include blisters, damage to nails, sprains, strains, assisting with physical therapy and dehydration issues that cropped up at last year's race due to the hot weather. 

"This year it was interesting because I told the students that this was perfect running conditions with minimal injuries," he said. "We had a steady amount of people. Prior to the initial bombing, everything was real basic. We had a couple blisters, I was able to treat one person for a little bit of a foot strain, I had a student put on a couple paddings and we really do not do too much because we just want them to get on their way and finish (the race).

'We Heard a Boom'

Each year there are usually three tents set up, including medical tent A, which was the triage tent and the one Conui was in. The tent, located about 30 yards from the finish line in front of the entrance to Boston Public Library, is divided into 20 sections and Conui worked sections 17, 18, and 19 near the entrance, he said. 

And it would be inside the tent that Conui would hear the blasts.

"I did not see (the bombings) because the tent is closed," he said. "I had a friend of mine (a breast cancer survivor from Texas) come in asking for me specifically and she had a blister. She came in so we could take care of the blister, but she said she wanted to have her medal after running this race and I said 'Don't you worry. I'm going to go get your medal right now.'"

Conui proceeded to get the medal for his friend, put it around her neck, congratulated her and just as he did that "we heard a boom," he said.

"She looked at me and I looked at her and she said 'That was not good,'" he said. "I looked at her and said 'That was a bomb.' And about five seconds after I said that there was a boom that was a little fainter and that is when everyone was kind of confused as to what was going on."

Serious Injuries

A medical director instructed doctors to stay with their patients until they figured out what was going on. Conui and his friend, who needed to find her parents, waited about five minutes and while waiting he witnessed some awful injuries.

"There was a woman that came in in a wheelchair, and she was missing her lower extremities," he recalled. "There were towels wrapped around her and that was the first person who got wheeled in. I helped my friend and she finally found her family. When I went back into the tent, there was about 30 stretchers with people on them and I thought I saw two children about 5-8 years old and one did not appear to be moving, and I said to myself 'I can't believe this is happening.'"

Conui said he moved to section 12 to help put a tourniquet on an injured woman, and "all I could see on my way back to my section was big drops of blood and people on stretchers."

One of the worst injuries Conui saw in his section was a woman that suffered an open fracture, which means the bone was sticking out of the skin. 

"During this time period, the medical director told us to remove all pants and shirts to check for shrapnel," he said. "...I just assumed that there was something (like a bomb) that went off."

By roughly 4:30 p.m., the majority of patients that needed to be taken to area hospitals were loaded onto ambulances, according to Conui. 

After the scene was cleared, Conui walked to meet his girlfriend at the Cask 'n Flagon outside Fenway Park, where she had gone to see the Red Sox game. 

Post-Marathon Coping

Since Patriots' Day, Conui said he had to go right back to work and was still working through what he saw. He said he cried during the Bruins game when the entire crowd sang the Star-Spangled Banner in unison, as well as during President Obama's speech during his visit to the city. He added that he plans to seek some grief counseling to help him work through what he witnessed.

Despite having some difficulty dealing with what he saw at the marathon, Conui said he will be back to the Boston Marathon next year.