Nashua Couple Recovering from Marathon Blast

Alvaro and Martha Galvis haven't missed a Boston Marathon since they met nearly four decades ago in Boston as college students, and fell in love. Every year since, no matter what, the couple made sure they were there, as close to the finish line as they could get, just to watch.

It's a tradition that ended abruptly on April 15 when both Alvaro and Martha Galvis suffered multiple injuries in the first of two bomb blasts that rocked the Boston Marathon.

Alvaro, 62, has had two surgeries to remove most of the shrapnel from his legs and buttocks. His wife, 60, remains in Brigham & Womens' Hospital, her left hand shattered – her left ring finger amputated; shrapnel that ripped through her leg caused severe nerve damage. She will spend the next year relearning how to walk. 

Not only did the bomb blast rob them of their mobility and health, it has left them on shaky financial ground – both unable to work, and months of rehabilitation ahead. 

Alvaro says it will be their last marathon.

"No, we won't go back. We will try to avoid crowds from now on. We don't want to be around a lot of people anymore," said Alvaro Galvis. 

He says the experience has changed him in a way he didn't expect.

"Just the other day I went down to hospital cafeteria with my daughter, and these two guys walked in with backpacks. I froze; I lost it. I felt so insecure. I can't even explain it," said Alvaro, who has begun counseling with a post-traumatic stress disorder counselor.

"She wants to see me every week. It's going to take time. It's all so vivid, that experience is embedded in my system," Alvaro says.

Some of the shards of metal can't be removed from his legs, so Alvaro Galvis will have to learn to live with that, too. 

Beyond that, he doesn't talk about the blast or the injuries, something his three children believe is all for the best. Right now their parents need to stay positive, and focus on recovery.

Son Leonardo Galvis, of Boston, says they all knew, as soon as they heard there had been an explosion at the finish line, that their parents were in trouble. 

"Within an hour of hearing, I was there with my mother in the hospital. But we had no idea where my dad was," he said. 

As it turned out, Alvaro Galvis had also been taken to Brigham & Women's. But with no cell phone service, it would take hours to discover his whereabouts.

Alvaro Galvis said he has always loved watching the marathon, from the first time he attended after arriving in the U.S. from Colombia to attend college at UMass.

"We haven't missed a marathon in all those years, but in 1971 my friend from Colombia, Alvaro Majia, he actually won the marathon, so of course, it made me love the marathon even more," Galvis said.

After meeting in college and marrying, the Galvis's moved to Nashua 27 years ago to raise their three children, attracted to New Hampshire by the lower crime rates and good schools. 

All three kids attended Elm Street Middle School, and Nashua High School.

And every year the two made the trip back to Boston, for the marathon.

"This year I was supposed to work, but I asked for the day off so we could keep the tradition going," said Alvaro Galvis. He has held the same job for 32 years, in health care account management.

"My intention was to remain working there three more years – and then this happened, which now changes my life. I have no idea what the future holds," Alvaro Galvis said.

He will need to be available for his wife, who will need help getting around and regular trips for physical rehabilitation. At least for the foreseeable future, she won't be able to return to her job as a preschool assistant teacher at the Adult Learning Center.

"Not only did she lose her finger, but we're not sure she will have full function of her hand – her bones were shattered," said daughter, Erika Galvis.

All of this is why their children created an online fund-raising page for their parents, the Galvis Fund, on GiveForward.com. 

They have set a fund raising goal of $950,000 and they have four months to keep the fund going online. 

Of the countless stories that have come out of the April 15 marathon tragedy, the Galvis family knows they are lucky that their parents survived the blast. But the physical and emotional toll it has left them with is impossible to measure. 

They are taking it one day at a time. 

"This is truly life altering. My siblings and I will try to manage as best we can, as much as our jobs allow us, to be here for them as much as we can. There is a a lot we have to coordinate," said Erika Galvis. "That's why we extended the fund for four months, to give us a little more time to figure things out."

If you would like to read more about the Galvis Family's journey toward recovery, or to donate directly to the recovery fund, go to www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/ts82/galvisfund