Bombing Survivor Donates Boston Marathon Bibs to Help Paris Victims

Flowers at the French Consulate in Boston. Photo via AP

For Tony Wrubel, running in the 2014 Boston Marathon was a way reclaim a day that was taken from him.

A year earlier, Wrubel suffered a severe concussion and hearing damage when the pressure cooker bombs tore through the crowds assembled at the finish line on Boylston Street. In the wake of the attacks, Wrubel found inspiration in the widespread support for Boston in the international community.

“It was so overwhelming but that level of support really helped a lot of us carry through, emotionally. And, I wanted to give back and do the same thing for the people in Paris,” Wrubel told WBZ-TV.

This year, Wrubel has donated two Boston Marathon bibs he received from the One Fund to a pair of French marathoners he met at the Consulate following November’s terrorist attacks on Paris, which killed nearly 140 people and injured hundreds more.

Philippe Lopes-Fernandes and Laurent Meunier, both Boston residents, will run this year’s race to raise money for GiveForFranceproject, benefiting the victims of the Paris attacks. “It’s about showing that together we can fight terrorism,” Lopes-Fernandes said.