Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor Engaged to Firefighter Who Saved Her

For Roseann Sdoia, the great love story of her life has emerged from one of its great tragedies.

The now 48-year-old was one of hundreds waiting near the finish of the Boston Marathon in April of 2013. A long-distance runner herself, Sdoia was there to cheer on competitors as they crossed the finish line. When the pressure cooker bombs went off, she was caught right in the heart of the explosion. Boston firefighter Mike Materia immediately rushed to her aid, getting her to a hospital all the while comforting her.

She told told the New York Post, “I asked him if I was going to die. And he told me that I was going to be OK, that I only had a flesh wound.”

The wound was a bit more serious than that, leading to the amputation of the woman’s right leg. During her time recuperating in the hospital, Materia continued to visit, keeping tabs on her recovery. During that period, it was Roseann Sdoia’s mother who first noticed a spark between the two.

“She was like, ‘Oh, did you see that firefighter? He’s so cute.’ And I was like, ‘Mom, I just got blown up,'” Sdoia told the Post.

Despite that rocky start, the two quickly began a romantic relationship in June 2013. After nearly three years of dating, the couple got engaged last month on a trip to Nantucket, and are currently planning to marry sometime this year.

Mike Materia and Roseann Sdoia are also co-authoring a book entitled Perfect Strangers which tracks the lives of several people who were forever linked by the bombing. The book is scheduled for release in the spring of 2017.