McIlrath Raddled By Boston Explosions
(Story courtesy Marc Smith, DiscoverMooseJaw.com) It was a terrible scene at the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon as two bombs exploded near the finish line of the race, killing two and injuring numerous spectators and runners.
Former Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Dylan McIlrath, who’s currently playing with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale, was in Boston and near the finish line when the bombs went off.
“It was pretty scary actually,” said McIlrath over the phone from Boston. “We were at about the MIT campus, which is just over the bridge from where it happened and we were crossing the bridge and heard a couple of explosions.
“We didn’t think anything of it because we knew the marathon was on and maybe it was some fireworks or something, obviously we weren’t think bomb right off the hop,” McIlrath told DiscoverMooseJaw.com. “It was really loud, but we didn’t expect anything bad until we saw some people and they were pretty shaken up and crying, so we saw the whole scene of the people panicking, it was eerie.”
McIlrath added that they got out of the area as quickly as possible and went to the Harvard University campus, but were told that it wasn’t safe there as well. He has since went to a friend’s house and will be heading back to Hartford later on Monday.
“Every few minutes, you hear a cop car with sirens on, so a lot of stuff is going on still,” said McIlrath.
There were 21 Saskatchewan people running in Monday’s Boston Marathon. Authorities couldn’t immediately estimate the number or extent of injuries, but reports say that bloody spectators were carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.
Moose Jaw’s Loni Fox, Assiniboia’s Graham Harvey and Paul Duperreault of Wilcox are all in Boston for the event. While Duperreault and his wife were at the scene at the time of the explosions, their family confirms they’re unharmed. We have also received confirmation that Loni Fox is okay.
If you have any information on the condition of other local people that were in Boston for the marathon, as a spectator or participant, you can contact 306-693-6397 to share your story. Concerned family members can call 1-617-635-4500 to ensure their loved ones are okay.
