Smithfield's Roupen Bastajian Tells About Boston Marathon Response

Smithfield's , exhausted after finishing the race, lept to the aid of bombing victims when two blasts struck bystanders April 15.

Last Thursday, Bastajian was honored for his actions that day aiding people with severed and lacerated limbs without a second thought upon hearing the blasts. The RI State Police awarded Bastajian with their highest honor, the service ribbon, which the trooper wore during a Monday morning press conference. Yesterday morning, he spoke about it for the first time since during a press conference.

Bastajian said before the explosions, he'd been requesting medical attention himself, since he'd just finished running 26.2 miles with little advance training. The last time he ran the Boston Marathon was two years ago, when he finished with a 4:05:00, and he'd only done a few training runs ahead of this Marathon. "The only reason I signed up for it was my badge number," Bastajian said - #117, and it was also the 117th Boston Marathon. But he did finish, with a 4:02 time - placing him well away from the danger of the blasts, but close enough to be among the first responders to the scene. 

As he rushed in, he said, "I was saying to myself, to my wife, 'Babe, I love you,'" he said.

Bastajian described helping an older gentleman who'd lost both his legs, and tying tourniquets to his injuries. "I said, 'Sir, you're going to be all right,'" Bastajian said. Then, he made sure of it, getting the attention of EMTs at the scene and telling them his charge was in dire need. "I said, 'Sir, you don't understand, this guy's life is on the line,'" Bastajian recalled.

Another woman Bastajian helped had a wide gash on her leg, which Bastajian asked her to help him hold together while he bandaged her wound. "We just tried to fix them," Bastajian said.

Bastajian said he clearly remembers helping three people, but he's pieced together coming to the aid of five injured that day. Then, he said, he took the advice of the police and fire personnel who were asking them to clear out. He asked to borrow someone's phone so he could call his wife - she was home with his three children that day instead of having made the trip in. "That was a blessing by itself," Bastajian said. He reached for the phone, then saw blood on his hands, and asked the person offering it to dial his wife's number for him, letting her know he was all right. "It's good when you have a strong wife that can endure a lot," Bastajian said.

When asked about people who have suggested that the living bomber should be spared from the consequences of the attacks, "It is offensive to me," Bastajian said. "Everyone should face justice." 

Bastajian said he'd like to meet up with the people he helped, but he hasn't reached out to them yet, preferring to give them time to cope with the physical, mental, emotional and financial aftermath of the attacks.

Bastajian, a resident of Smithfield since 1995, said he moved to the US with his parents from Lebanon in 1987. He said he's wanted to be a Trooper since he was 16. 

Bastajian said he didn't think to himself before the Marathon what he'd do in the event of an attack on the race or crowd. "The reality is, not at all," Bastajian said. The former US Marine deferred to his faith by way of explaining his ability to act quickly to help others, quoting Phillipians 4-13:"I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me."

Bastajian said he'll be thinking about how he'll help next time, though. "Will I in the future? Absolutely," Bastajian said.