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Boston Marathon Bombings Victim Jarrod Clowery Joins Toucher & Rich

Jarrod Clowery was injured in the Boston Marathon bombings last month, but he said he feels fortunate.

"Three of my friends lost limbs," Jarrod told Toucher & Rich on Friday. "We all got significant damage. I'm out here doing this and I still have two friends that are in care in the hospital. Marc Fucarile, J.P. Norden, Paul Norden and James Costello, they still need prayers and they still need help. I feel a little selfish being out here but I want to get the message out."

Clowery said he suffered shrapnel damage, had nails and BBs lodged in his leg, had to undergo multiple surgeries and still has two more to undergo, but he's mostly concerned with his friends. The support that he and everyone else have received has been overwhelming.

"Not just the victims, the whole town of Stoneham, the whole town we grew up in," Clowery said of the bonds that have been strengthened after the bombings. "My friends that never leave my side ... I could sit here and call out so many people, and nobody ever gets to see those particular heroes. There are so many groups of heroes involved in a situation like this, but people only want to talk to victims."

Clowery expressed gratitude to the people who helped his friends who lost legs, because it obviously could have been much worse.

"When I turned around, what I saw, when I came to, I just thought all my friends were gone. I thought everybody in that blast radius was dead. When I saw it and heard what happened, and they finally proved to me that my friends were alive -- because I didn't believe them, I told them 'You didn't see what I've seen,' -- I just commend the EMTs, the firefighters, the civilians, it's unbelievable, because they were telling me that all my friends were alive. Not only were they alive, but they were stable."

"A-plus for Boston," Clowery said of the immediate response. "That was their Super Bowl, and they won 38-0."

Jarrod said the bombings were some of the worst acts of cowardice possible, but the reaction from everyone on scene was a more defining moment for the people of Boston.

"It's immediately followed by the best of humanity. Maybe people think they wouldn't have the courage. I think about it, and if I was in good shape, maybe I wouldn't have run in there. I've seen it -- that's not a pretty sight. But they did. They swarmed back in, in light speed. So you get the worst of the worst, followed by the best of the best."

Clowery said some friends are going to finish the race on May 19, and he'll be standing right where he stood the day of the Boston Marathon.

"Some runners from Stoneham are trying to raise money for it, they're going to finish the race," Jarrod said. "On the 19th, you can meet at 1 o'clock at the 25th mile, and they're gonna finish the race. ... [I was asked], 'Can we meet you at the finish line?' I said, 'No, I'm going to stand at The Forum, where I got blown up.' And everybody that runs in that, we're going to all stop at The Forum. I can't run, my right leg is toast. Everybody is willing to go from The Forum to the finish line with me."

Jarrod invited "anybody out there in Boston that's listening to this wants to come stand with me at The Forum or start at the 25th mile."

Before the interview wrapped up, Toucher & Rich gave Jarrod a personally autographed Bruins jersey from Milan Lucic. Jarrod then told the story of how he got away with pinching Shawn Thornton's rear end without getting beaten up.

A fund has been set up for the Stoneham victims, and donations can be made at StonehamStrong.com.

Jarrod Clowery

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