Rebekah Gregory is from Houston, Texas and was never a marathoner.

In fact, when testifying in court during day one of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial, she asked hypothetically, and lightheartedly, why anyone would run more than 26 miles for fun.

Gregory happened to be visiting Boston on April 15, 2013 to support and cheer on her mother in law who was running her first Boston Marathon. She was standing near Marathon Sports, and the first bomb, when a pressure cooker filled with explosives and metal shards exploded and tore through her body.

“My bones were literally laying next to me on the sidewalk,” said Gregory. “When I lifted up my arm, bones were sticking out of the flesh in my left hand and blood was running down my arm.”

In 2014, she had her lower left leg amputated because of the damage sustained from the bomb.

Prior to removal, she had 17 surgeries on it.

Gregory was one of six to testify in court on the first day of the trial. She shared her account of what happened, reliving the vivid details, but after court adjourned, she delivered a personal message to the alleged bomber, Tsarnaev, via Facebook.

In essence, she explained the notion of “Boston Strong”: