[Benjamin]

One of the most haunting images to come out of the Boston bombings is of a young man in a wheelchair, his legs blown off, being rushed to help by three people, including a man in a cowboy hat.

The young man's name is Jeff Bauman, and he is in a stable condition in hospital.

The cowboy-hat wearing good samaritan is Carlos Arredondo. When the first blast went off Arredondo immediately ran to the site of the blast across the street and vaulted the security fence to get to victims. Video footage shows him among first responders in his distinctive cowboy hat, bending to help the wounded.

Arredondo saw severed limbs, a pool of blood, and a young man in a gray sweatshirt trying to stand. "He had no legs," Arredondo said in a later interview.

A second bomb went off nearby, but Arredondo stayed focused on the young man. "I told him, my name's Carlos, you're going to be OK, help is on the way,'" Arredondo said.

He applied tourniquets which he made by ripping up a sweater. With his friend John Mixon, a Vietnam Veteren, Arredondo put the young man in a wheelchair brought by EMS staff, then started moving as fast as he could while apparently holding shut an artery. "I kept talking to him. I kept saying, 'Stay with me, stay with me,' " Arredondo said. A young woman and police officer joined him pushing the wheelchair close to the ambulances.

The young man was still conscious when he was taken to hospital. "I told him,' You're going to be fine,'" Arredondo says.

Bauman's father told the NY Times that Arredondo had saved his son's life.

Arredondo is known nationally as a peace activist himself after his son, US Marine Corporal Alexander Arredondo, was killed in combat in Iraq in 2004. Arredondo was at the marathon supporting a group running in memory of fallen veterans, including his son.

This is just one of many stories of bravery and compassion that will emerge from the marathon.

http://politix.topix.com/homepage/56...lost-both-legs