Veteran-Amputees Inspire Boston Marathon Watchers--And Country

Man with prosthetic leg carries woman across Boston Marathon finish line
WCVB
Apr 18, 2017

BOSTON
In the closing moments of the Boston Marathon, a moment captured at the finish line is capturing the hearts of many.

At the end of the course, a man with a prosthetic leg was seen carrying his guide and the American flag across the finish line.

Earl Granville said 50 feet before crossing the line on Boylston Street, he looked to his guide, Andi Piscopo, and decided to have some fun with the finish. He picked her up and carried her across the line much to the delight of those gathered at the finish line and on social media.

A video WCVB posted to their Facebook page has been seen by millions, leaving Granville in disbelief. "Never had I thought just a spur-of-the-moment thing would blow up like this," he said.

Piscopo was feeling just fine and didn't need help to cross the finish line. As Granville's guide, it was her job to keep an eye on him medically and keep his pace count. The team has run in multiple endurance races together.

"To see him accomplish his goals, it makes me want to do more," Piscopo said. "He inspires me to be a better person."

Granville is a nine-year veteran under the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and lost part of his leg in the summer of 2008 when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

"My downward spiral happened after that," Granville said. "A lot of hardships I faced, a lot of things I was doing, a lot of unhealthy choices I was making."
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Marine who lost leg in Afghanistan ran Boston Marathon carrying American flag
The Dallas Morning News (Tribune News Service)
By ELINE DE BRUIJN
Published: April 18, 2017

A Marine who lost his leg in Afghanistan crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday the same way he had run most of the course -- with a U.S. flag in hand.

Jose Luis Sanchez, of San Antonio, carries the United States flag across the finish line in the 121st Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17, 2017, in Boston. ELISE AMENDOLA/AP

"I was like I'm not gonna let this beat me, dude. I used that to fuel my drive," he said. "Never again am I going to feel sorry or feel these emotions. I'm not gonna feel weak anymore. At that point, I never looked back."

Sanchez's unit wrote him messages on the flag, which was flown at every location during their tour, he told WBZ-TV.

Sanchez was fighting post-traumatic stress disorder when he decided to open the flag and read it five years after the unit had given it to him, he said.
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