Martin Richard was eight-years old and waiting for his father and friends to finish running the Boston Marathon, according to CBS. As they crossed, the small boy ran to give his father a big hug. It turned out to be their final moment together, as seconds later, after Martin walked back to the sidewalk, he was killed as the first of two explosions went off at the Boston Marathon.
Richard's mother, Denise, and his six-year-old sister, Jane, were also seriously injured in the explosion. Denise Richard suffered a brain injury and was recovering after undergoing emergency surgery on Monday night. Richard's sister reportedly suffered a severe leg injury and reports vary as to whether she lost her leg. The third child is uninjured.
"They're dear, dear friends to the community, to ourselves, to our neighbors, and this is a very, very difficult time," Judy Tuttle, who serves on the Ashmont Adams Neighborhood Association with Denise Richards, told CBS.
Friends of the family gathered at Tavolo Restaurant in Dorchester, where the family is from, and where William Richard serves as community leader. Denise Richard works at the local Neighborhood House Charter School, where the kids attend classes.
"They are beloved by this community," City Councilor at Large Ayanna Pressly told the Boston Globe. "They contribute in many ways."
"That's why you see this outpouring," she said. "It's surreal, it's tragic, it's incomprehensible."
Martin was described as a "kind, caring and loving young boy who had great excitement for learning" in a statement from his school, the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy. He also loved to climb tress and play outside, neighbor Betty Delorey told the Associated Press.
Among the mourners who stopped by the house was friend of Martin's, 8-year-old Kaitlyn Lynch.
"We always played on Fridays," she said. "We draw together. We draw sports pictures."
A process has begun to create a fund to help the Richards family. On Tuesday, outside the family's home, a single candle burned next to a word written in chalk: Peace.
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