WORCESTER—In a powerful and inspiring commencement keynote address, Adrianne Haslet, a Boston Marathon bombing survivor and former ballroom dancer, urged Worcester State University’s Class of 2024 to embrace their resilience and believe in their ability to overcome any challenge.
The graduates now stand simultaneously at the finish line and a new starting line, Haslet told the 940 graduating seniors at Worcester State’s 148th Commencement May 18 at the DCU Center in downtown Worcester.
“What will get you to the finish line is nothing compared to what got you to the start,” she said. “So often we stand at the beginning of something and think of the monumental task ahead, forgetting all the steps we’ve already taken to get there in the first place.”
Haslet was at the peak of her career as a professional dancer when she survived the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013 where she lost her left leg. She learned an entirely new way to navigate her daily life in the face of this challenge and inspired others around the globe, appearing in her own CNN documentary “The Survivor Diaries” with Anderson Cooper, which detailed her first year as an amputee. Her debut TED talk has over 18 million views.
She went on to become a distance runner and has completed multiple Boston Marathons and Boston Athletic Association 10Ks, including a first-place finish in 2022.
But as someone who, as she says, ‘didn’t like to sweat in public,’ running was not something Haslet ever thought she would pursue. Instead, she had always wanted to be a dancer and idolized the legendary Ginger Rogers after seeing her smooth dance moves with Fred Astaire in an old film on TV. She longed to one day dance like the elegant and graceful Rogers, but that dream died – and she almost did, too – one sunny Monday afternoon in Boston.
Haslet said she had been strolling around Boston and just happened upon the Boston Marathon. She didn’t even know what it was back then, but she lingered and watched for a while. She was standing near the finish line when she heard a loud blast, felt the ground shake, and then experienced a sense of being trapped or crushed, as if a building had fallen on her, although one hadn’t. Terrorists had planted two bombs near the finish line and Haslet was only two feet away from the second bomb when it went off.
“I lifted my right leg to see a gash, then my left, but there was nothing there. My leg was gone,” she said. “I thought two things. One, ‘There goes Ginger,’ and two, ‘There is no way my family and friends can get here fast enough to say goodbye.’ ”
She credits an off-duty doctor, EMTs at the scene and a “superstar surgeon” at the hospital with saving her life. She said she managed to get through her long recovery by relying on grit, determination, and the support of her family, friends, and medical professionals. She made promises to herself and to her surgeon that she would someday dance again and even run in the Boston Marathon, which gave her a sense of purpose and motivation.
This is a syndicated article courtesy of Worcester State University. The livestream to the entire event can be found here.
