It’s difficult to imagine finding beauty in the tragedy of the Boston Marathon Bombings but that’s the magic behind Mike and Roseann’s story together. For the first time, Boston Firefighter Mike Materia is talking about that day and what led him to fall for this woman he was trying to save.
When Boston Firefighter Mike Materia first spotted Roseann Sdoia, she was badly hurt from the second blast and was lying in the middle of Boylston Street. But spoiler alert, this is a real-life romance with a storybook ending.
“I noticed that she was cute, instantly when I first met her. When I picked you (Roseann) up off the street on Boylston Street," Mike said with a smile.
Roseann chuckled. “We have a lot of one-liners," she said.
It was 10 years ago when Mike helped to get Roseann to the hospital and quite literally never left her side.
"It was such a tragic day and you just wanted to do something. If it was like, to make Roseann smile or the rest of the family happy or drive someone to get, sandwiches or whatever; whatever I could do, it was just something to help," he said.
Roseann said everyone noticed.
“It was right from the beginning. It was just hysterical. You know, I have friends telling me, ‘We’ve already looked on his Facebook page. He doesn't have a girlfriend that we can tell.’ I'm like, guys, I was just blown up. Can everybody just take a step back?”
There were the early days in the hospital when doctors had to amputate her right leg, above the knee. Roseann spent weeks in recovery. When she left Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, we should have seen the glimmer then when Mike swept her up in big bear hug. But at the time, he was just the steadfast support outside her family. And he was quick to offer he’d help get her to appointments.
Those rides to doctors’ offices turned into lunch hangouts and by the end of the summer of 2013, they were officially dating.
“I kind of grew on you," Mike said.
Roseann laughed as she responded, “You grew on me. Yes, we spent a lot of time together.”
The next chapters included a proposal on Nantucket, a wedding on the Cape, and it became apparent all the simple reasons why they loved each other. Mike said his favorite thing about Roseann is easy: “it’s her laugh. I always know where she is. She laughs so much. It's a genuine laugh and it happens a lot.”
In the end, everything changed for Roseann, except of course, the one steady hand that found hers a decade ago and has been holding on ever since.
“Looking back at it, there were all these little things that tied it all together. That's how he is; he shows up,” Roseann said.
