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Boston Marathon bombing victim tells Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: You are a coward

Rebekah Gregory posts open letter on Facebook calling alleged bomber "a little boy who wouldn’t even look me in the eyes”

Boston Marathon bombing survivor Rebekah Gregory DiMartino (2nd R) crosses the marathon finish line during a Tribute Run for survivors and first responders in Boston
Boston Marathon bombing survivor Rebekah Gregory DiMartino (2nd R) crosses the marathon finish line during a Tribute Run for survivors and first responders in Boston Credit: Photo: Reuters

A mother who lost her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing has written an open letter to the alleged bomber after coming face-to-face with him for the first time in a federal court.

Rebekah Gregory told Dzhokhar Tsarnaev that after seeing him in the flesh he had gone from the face of her nightmares to “a little boy who wouldn’t even look me in the eyes”.

The 27-year-old, who has a prosthetic left leg after her own was torn off in the blast, faced the defendant from the witness box as she told of the horror of being caught in the blast along with her five-year-old son Noah.

After her testimony she posted a letter on Facebook addressed to Tsarnaev, who may face the death penalty if convicted.

We don't really know each other and never will. But over the last two years, I have seen your face not only in pictures, but in almost every one of my nightmares

.

She told him how “all that changed” as she walked past Tsarnaev in the courtroom.

You are a coward. A little boy who wouldn't even look me in the eyes to see that. Because you can't handle the fact that what you tried to destroy, you only made stronger.

She ended on a triumphant note, signing her letter: “Someone you shouldn’t have messed with #bostonstrong”.

So now...while you are sitting in solitary confinement, (awaiting the verdict on your life), I will be actually ENJOYING everything this beautiful world has to offer. And guess what else? I will do so without fear....of YOU. Because now to me you're a nobody, and it is official that you have lost. So man that really sucks for you bro. I truly hope it was worth it.

Boston Marathon bombing survivor Pete DiMartino, and his girlfriend, Rebekah Gregory, hold hands prior to DiMartino throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston

Rebekah Gregory and boyfriend and fellow survivor Pete DiMartino at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP)

The 21-year-old defendant, who may face the death penalty if convicted, is only able to see what his lawyers show him and is unlikely to read Ms Gregory's letter.

The court also heard from Jeffrey Bauman, who lost both legs in the attack.

Mr Bauman described how moments before the blast he came face-to-face with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the defendant's older brother. "He didn’t look like everybody that was there. He was alone, he wasn’t watching the race," Mr Bauman said.

After the first bomb detonated at the marathon finish line, Mr Bauman said he "looked down and saw my legs and it was just carnage. I could see my bones and my flesh sticking out."

The man who became the face of the terrorised crowd responding to the bomb attacks on the Boston bombing provided the key identification of the dead suspect moments before the explosions took place.
A paramedic and Carlos Arredondo (in the cowboy hat) help Jeff Bauman after the explosion. Photo: AP Credit: AP

Mr Bauman came to after the surgery that removed both his legs and saw his friend John Sullivan standing over his hospital bed. "I knew I wasn't in heaven because Sully was standing there," he said, causing laughter on a day of otherwise wrenching testimony.

His hospital room was soon full of FBI agents who asked for his help in identifying the bomber. "I only had one goal at that point: tell whoever I could what I knew about him."

Tamerlan was killed during a shootout with police days later and died after his younger brother allegedly ran him over in a stolen car while trying to flee the scene.

Alan Hern, a high school football coach, told the court about the injuries suffered by his son Aaron. Doctors examining his leg found shards of other people's bones in the 11-year-old's wounds.

Mr Hern said he knelt next to his son as others tried to staunch the bleeding. "I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him so I wanted sure that I talked to him and told him I loved him."

Aaron survived the attack and made a full recover but Martin Richard, an eight-year-old boy standing just a few feet away, was killed by the explosion.

Martin Richard and family
Martin Richard, bottom right, was with his family watching the marathon and died in the blast. Credit: FACEBOOK

Below is Rebekah Gregory's letter, in full:

Dear Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,

My name is Rebekah Gregory. We don't really know each other and never will. But over the last two years, I have seen your face not only in pictures, but in almost every one of my nightmares. Moments before the first blast, your stupid backpack even brushed up against my arm, but I doubt you remember because I am no one to you. A complete stranger. And although I was merely just a blip on your radar, (someone that happened to be standing 3 feet from your designated "good spot" for a bomb), you have been so much more to me. Because you have undoubtedly been my source of fear since April 15th, 2013. (After all, you are one of the men responsible for nearly taking my child, and for the permanent image embedded in my brain of watching someone die.) Up until now, I have been truly scared of you and because of this, fearful of everything else people might be capable of.

But today, all that changed. Because this afternoon, I got to walk into a courtroom and take my place at the witness stand, just a few feet away from where you were sitting. (I was WALKING. Did you get that?) And today I explained all the horrific details, of how you changed my life, to the people that literally hold YOURS in their hands. That's a little scary right? And this afternoon before going in, I'm not going to lie..my palms were sweaty. And sitting up there talking to the prosecution did make me cry. But today, do you know what else happened? TODAY...I looked at you right in the face....and realized I wasn't afraid anymore. And today I realized that sitting across from you was somehow the crazy kind of step forward that I needed all along.

And I think that's the ironic thing that happens when someone intends something for evil. Because somehow, some way, it always ends up good. But you are a coward. A little boy who wouldn't even look me in the eyes to see that. Because you can't handle the fact that what you tried to destroy, you only made stronger. And if your eyes would've met mine for just one second, you would've also seen that what you "blew up" really did BLOW UP. Because now you have given me (and the other survivors) a tremendous platform to help others, and essentially do our parts in changing the world for the better.

So yes...you did take a part of me. Congratulations you now have a leg up...literally. But in so many ways, you saved my life. Because now, I am so much more appreciative of every new day I am given. And now, I get to hug my son even tighter than before, blessed that he is THRIVING, despite everything that has happened.

So now...while you are sitting in solitary confinement, (awaiting the verdict on your life), I will be actually ENJOYING everything this beautiful world has to offer. And guess what else? I will do so without fear....of YOU. Because now to me you're a nobody, and it is official that you have lost. So man that really sucks for you bro. I truly hope it was worth it.

Sincerely,

Someone you shouldn't have messed with

#‎bostonstrong