17 Operations Later, Boston Survivor Loses Her Leg

A 27-year-old survivor of the Boston Marathon bombings had her leg amputated yesterday after 17 operations to try to save it, reports NBC News. But to get a sense of Rebekah DiMartino's state of mind, it's better to check out her Facebook post prior to the operation in which she writes a "Dear John" letter of sorts to her own leg informing it of their pending breakup. "Go get yourself one last pedicure on me and enjoy it because tomorrow ... I will be cutting you out of my life for good," she writes. On a photo of her leg, she adds, "It's not you, it's me," notes the Boston Globe.

It's typical of the upbeat attitude with which DiMartino—who was Rebekah Gregory at the time of the bombings—has handled her recovery from the start. Martino's then-boyfriend, Pete DiMartino, and son Noah, then 5, also were wounded in the bombings, but they suffered lesser injuries. She and DiMartino have since married and now live in Texas, and she has become a motivational speaker. "This is a new beginning for me," she told NBC over the weekend. "It's OK. It really just is a leg." (More Boston Marathon bombing stories.)