![](https://new-cdn.mamamia.com.au/mamamia-pwa.appspot.com/cms_images/originals/snh04HakQCwoFexzMKgb_1681609498379.png)
On April 15, 2013, Roseann Sdoia decided to spend Patriot's Day the same way she had done for the past 15 years — watching a baseball game, before heading over to Boston's street bars to watch the iconic Boston marathon with friends.
Nothing felt out of the ordinary. Then Sdoia's life changed completely when she got caught up in the Boston marathon bombings.
Two homemade bombs exploded around 200 metres away from the finish line of the annual race. It killed three people, and injured several hundred others — including dozens who lost limbs.
Sdoia was just steps away from the second blast. As a result, she had to have her right leg amputated above the knee.
But soon, Boston firefighter named Mike Materia, who was a first responder at the scene, was by her side. He held her hand and lifted her into the truck to go to hospital, determined to help in any way he could.
Sdoia said to New York Post: "I asked him if I was going to die. And he told me that I was going to be okay, that I only had a flesh wound."
Watch: American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing. Post continues below.
Materia said that in the midst of all the chaos, he was trying to do everything he could to help the survivors. But when he saw Roseann, he immediately felt a connection.
"I noticed that she was cute, instantly when I first met her. When I picked you (Roseann Sdoia) up off the street on Boylston Street," Materia said in an interview with NBC Boston alongside Sdoia.