Sports

Injured in Boston blast, runner will compete in NYC Marathon

Dave Fortier had foot wounds that have slowly healed and scarred over. He has permanent partial hearing loss, a constant ringing in his ears serving as a daily reminder of how close he came to dying. And he has memories of an explosion that went off just a few feet to his left.

Nevertheless, Dave Fortier considers himself fortunate. He feels lucky he happened to have been passing another runner on the right and not the left, lucky his injuries were mild instead of mortal, lucky he survived the Boston Marathon bombing healthy enough to run Sunday’s New York City Marathon, raising money for the National CML Society, which assists those with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, a rare form of leukemia.

“They couldn’t have been more excited. We’re working for this to be our cornerstone event for the CML Society,’’ Fortier said.

Chances are you’ve seen him, even if you didn’t know it was him. He was ubiquitous in all the videos of the Boston bombing, images of Fortier instinctively covering his ear and stunned by the explosion replayed worldwide over and over again (behind and to the left of runner who falls in video).

“Since the blast, I’ve lost hearing. I have a constant ringing in my ear. When it happened, I couldn’t hear anything. I could feel a second blast, but I couldn’t hear it. It was muffled. I’ve lost a range of hearing in both ears. High-pitched sounds I don’t hear, like a mosquito,’’ Fortier said. “[But] the foot is healing. It’s just scarring now. But I just consider myself really lucky.’’

It was dumb luck Fortier — who runs a telecommunications business — was even running that day. A former ski instructor and body double for Chevy Chase in the movie “Funny Farm,” he always had been active, but never had run a marathon.

He ran his first half-marathon last fall on a lark, and halfway through his second decided if he was going to put himself through these rigors, it should be for a good cause. He called a friend with CML and asked how he could run to raise money for cancer research.

Fortier got connected with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which organizes an annual marathon challenge to raise research money. He got a training program from Dana-Farber’s training adviser, Jack Fultz — the 1976 Boston Marathon champ — and it kept him going strong throughout the April race.

He waved to his family in front of the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, his wife Tracey recalling “how much fun it looked like he was having.” He high-fived Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts down Boylston Street, and was strong enough to pass another runner, 78-year-old Bill Iffrig, before the finish.

That’s when the first explosion knocked Fortier sideways. Shrapnel ripped through his shoe and dug into his foot. He half-stumbled and half-turned to look, shielding his left ear with his hand, as Iffrig fell to the ground and was tended to by three police officers in an iconic photograph of the chaos that ensued.

“I was starting to move to the right to pass. The older gent was in front of me, and I started to move to the right,’’ said Fortier, who knows that may have spared him. “I do think so. There’s obviously shrapnel crossing the road. I don’t know what would’ve been in the path had I not moved.

“Shrapnel tore the top of my shoe, ripped into the top and side of my foot. I definitely felt it when it happened. Everything was confused, [but] you could tell it was wrong. There was a blast. I turned and there were people who’d been to my left and they weren’t there anymore. They were just gone, laying on the ground.’’

Fortier doesn’t even recall finishing the race, and could barely hear the second explosion. He stumbled to a bench to text Tracey, who let him know everybody was safe. He called his parents’ house and got a text from his brother before heading to the hospital, needing stitches and suffering from hearing loss.

But it could have been far worse, a point driven home during his time on the board of the One Fund Boston, formed to assist victims and families affected by the marathon bombing. It has raised more than $60 million, but also reminded Fortier how interconnected they all are. He saw a woman who shared an ambulance with him on the way to the hospital, and he even saw Iffrig.

“About a week-and-a-half ago, I saw the gentleman that was running in front of me. We’re both on the committee, now trying to help decide what the memorial is going to be, where to put it,’’ Fortier said. “It’s a committee being put together that’s going to encompass some of the victims.’’

But Fortier has gone from victim to benefactor. National CML Society founder Greg Stephens called him in August, hoping to get him to run.

“I said, ‘Oh, what is it, a 10k? A half?’ He asked would I be interested in running the New York City Marathon,’’ Fortier said, chuckling.

Of course he said yes, and signed up to make his Boston encore next April as well.

“The running thing takes a toll, but I was having such as good time,” he said. “It was a beautiful sunny day, and it’s predicted to be like that in New York, supposed to be sunny Sunday.