Providence Journal photo / Kris Craig
Heather Abbott's room at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is stuffed with flowers and gifts from well-wishers
BOSTON -- Heather Abbott, the Newport woman who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing, expects to return home on Saturday.But before she leaves Boston, she will appear at Fenway Park as a special honoree at the Red Sox Rhode Island Day.
In an interview Monday, Abbott, 38, sat by the window of her room at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where she has been staying for the past week. Flowers sent by well-wishers lined the picture window, which looked out on the Tobin Bridge. The cast is off her left leg, amputated below the knee, and the stump is wrapped in gauze.
She smiled the same radiant smile that captivated the media at a press conference a couple of weeks ago at Brigham & Women's Hospital, where she was taken after the bombing and where she decided to have her severely damaged foot removed. She expressed no regrets, and said she continues to maintain good spirits.
"I'm a very logical person," Abbott said. "To dwell on negatives isn't going to help me."
She enjoys a constant stream of visitors, and friends at home holding fund-raisers for her. "It's hard to be depressed when you have that many people cheering you on," she said.
At Spaulding she undergoes three hours of physical and occupational therapy each day, building strength and learning how to get around without a leg.