'Hope is a Powerful Thing'

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Hailey Danisewicz -- who lost a leg to cancer as a teenager -- was heading out of the gym when she learned about the Boston Marathon bombings. Less than two weeks later, the Northwestern University senior was reassuring victims of the blast that, despite the loss of limbs, “they could still live big, beautiful lives.”

An athlete who participates in marathons and triathlons and a student in the School of Education and Social Policy, Danisewicz chronicled her moving visit to Boston in her “Road to Triumph” blog.

She visited Boston as part of the Semper Fi Fund, a group that typically works with injured Marines.

“Hope is a powerful thing,” writes Danisewicz in the blog. “It is found in places you would never expect during times when believing in good feels impossible.”

Such was the case in Boston.

Danisewicz decided to take a 60-minute run before a long day of hospital meetings with victims of the Marathon bombings. While she often forgets that seeing an amputee on a running blade is something out of the ordinary, on that morning she was well aware of the emotions that her presence on the running path evoked.

“Seeing a girl with a fake leg running through the city was a sign that everything was going to be okay,” Danisewicz writes in her blog “Road to Triumph.”

To read more about her recent Boston experience, visit “Bringing Hope to Boston."