Brothers Injured in Bombing Recovering Together at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Brothers JP and Paul Norden reunited last Friday at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where they are both undergoing care for injuries sustained in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings. Used to seeing each other several times a day before the explosion that left them both without one leg, the brothers were glad for the reunion, though it will be short-lived—Paul is expected to be released from Spaulding soon for out-patient care, while JP will remain behind. “I can’t even describe…” Paul, 31, said when asked what it was like to be back with his brother. “I didn’t see him for 14 days, and it was so tough. I see him every day of my life. So it’s just amazing to be back to normal.” JP, 33, said of their reunion: “It’s the best thing ever.” At a press conference held Monday at Spaulding’s new location in the Charlestown Navy Yard, the Stoneham natives spoke about the many emotions they had experienced over the past month, the ups and downs of rehabilitation and their special bond as brothers—which comes with a healthy side of competition. Paul even joked that the hospital that treated him after the bombing, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was better than Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which treated JP. (Both brothers had nothing but good things to say about their respective medical teams.) At Spaulding, the brothers are able to visit each other’s rooms, and Paul said, once he’s been discharged, he plans to visit JP every day. “Unfortunately, I do believe it does help [to be recovering together]. I’d rather it not be that way, but it is that way,” Paul said. “We’re going to work hard and get through this.” The pair also said they were grateful for the overwhelming support of their family, friends, doctors and first responders—as well as people they had never met who have rallied around them to raise funds or just to say hi. “The managers must go nuts here [at Spaulding]—we’ve got 30 visitors a day,” JP said. “They’re the ones that keep us positive.” “I’ve had Facebook people from Britain asking how I’m doing. It’s really been nice to know that people care,” he added. The brothers said they are concerned about friends who were also injured in the bombing but that they were focusing on their own recovery. “We think of all the other friends of ours that got hurt, but we have to focus on ourselves getting better first,” Paul said. JP and Paul Norden were spectators, waiting for a friend to finish the Boston Marathon, when the two explosions went off. The moments after the explosions […]

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