Northeastern University, Boston, situated less than a mile from the bombings, where Enniscorthy woman Fiona Furlong is studying.
A COUNTY WEXFORD student on work placement in Boston has spoken of her shock in the aftermath of last week’s terrorist attack.
Fiona Furlong (21) of Courtnacuddy, attends Northeastern University as part of her Dublin City University course, where she studies European Business, and is in the US city working in the financial district on placement.
When the bombs went off last Monday during the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring over 180, Ms. Furlong was in work, which was situated about 15 minutes away.
Speaking to The Echo last week, she said: “I was the first one of our friends to find out because sister of one of the girls I work with was volunteering in the medical tents at the finish line of the marathon. She rang her to say there had been an explosion. I started to ring anyone I knew that I thought might be down around there. Some of my friends are on work placement so I knew they’d all be fine, but I was worried about my friends that are still in college; it’s less than a mile from that whole area.
“It was also Patriot’s Day, so nobody had college and I was worried that someone would be down there. In the end, there are a couple of students from my college in hospital but we had no fatalities. Once I knew everyone was safe I let my family know what happened. They were fairly shocked to hear but once they knew I was safe they were ok.”
She said that once the story broke in her office, everyone stopped what they were doing and just watched the news, in total shock.
“People stayed in work until the end of day, but everyone either walked, got a lift or a taxi home — nobody wanted to take the T (subway). Everyone was just really shocked to be honest. Boston is a really small city; nobody can really understand why someone would want to do this.”
She added: “I still can’t really believe it happened. Like I said, Boston is a tiny city; everywhere in Boston is close to each other. It’s not like New York where everything is spread out. Coming home from work Monday was a weird experience — I felt like I didn’t really want to be outside, I just kind of wanted to get home and stay there. It’s just really sad because all Monday morning people were saying what a nice day it was for the marathon, the weather was really nice.
“We watched the winners cross the finish on the news around 11 a.m/ 12 p.m and then a couple of hours later we were watching something so horrific on the exact same street. The Copley Square area is one of the prettiest places in Boston too. We spent the day around there Sunday and now the streets are covered in blood and the shop windows are blown out, it’s crazy!”
[For the full story, see this week’s Echo]
