Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Taking My Life Back
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/12/1987
WEBSITE: https://www.rebekahmgregory.com/
CITY: Houston
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/rebekah-gregory/2587
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 12, 1987; married; children: Noah and Ryleigh.
EDUCATION:Attended college.
ADDRESS
CAREER
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
In her memoir, Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing, twenty-six-year-old Rebekah Gregory defines herself as a mother and devout Christian from a small town in Texas. On April 15, 2013, she was at the finish line of the race with her five-year-old son cheering on a family friend. Three feet away, one of the bombs went off, spewing nails and screws in all directions and severely injuring her. She endured eighteen surgeries and sixty-five medical procedures before she agreed to have her left leg amputated. Gregory was one of seventeen amputees that survived the bombing. Two years later, the Houston, Texas-based Gregory returned to Boston to run in the marathon herself.
Cowritten by New York Times and international bestselling author Anthony Flacco, Gregory’s memoir chronicles her daily struggles, her encouragement, and her resilience. She especially explains her faith, which kept her spirits alive in Christ, which teaches her that with every new day comes new hope, and that obstacles are given to us to teach us lessons and to make us better versions of ourselves. For example, despite her legs being damaged, she believes they protected her son from being injured or killed. She contends that the adversity in her early life involving abuse, bad decisions, and pain have brought her closer to Jesus, allowed her to find peace, encouraged her to trust God with every part of her life, and to realize that while life is hard, with God all things are possible.
Gregory also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. “A lot of people think that because it was four years ago that we’ve all kind of moved on with our lives, but what people don’t understand is the emotional impact of everything is so much greater than the physical,” Gregory told Savannah Guthrie on Today Monday, in an article by Scott Stump on the Today Website. The bombing also took its toll on Gregory’s personal life. She has since gotten divorced, married again to her college sweetheart, and had a daughter.
Although her descriptions of the events of the bombing are graphic, she finds strength in overcoming her injuries, fighting the feeling of reacting with helplessness, coping with physical and mental injuries, and dedication to rehabilitation and feeling stronger again. Noting the emotional impact of reading Gregory’s memoir about her terrifying ordeal during and after the Boston Marathon Bombing, a writer in Publishers Weekly said: “The prose is straightforward, and her voice is strong and self-aware.” The writer added: “There’s energy and good humor behind the pain.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2017, review of Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing, p. 71.
ONLINE
Rebekah Gregory Website, https://www.rebekahmgregory.com/ (November 1, 2017), author profile.
Today, https://www.today.com/ (April 3, 2017), Scott Stump, “Boston bombing survivor opens up about struggle with PTSD years later.”
Rebekah GregoryRebekah Gregory is a woman and mother whose life was forever changed due to the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. This act of terrorism may have claimed her leg, but it could not claim her spirit. She is now a powerful motivational speaker who encourages people all across the country with her message of faith and hope. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her son, daughter, and her college-sweetheart-turned-husband.
Rebekah Gregory is a simple small town woman and mother whose life was forever changed due to the events of the Boston marathon bombings on April 15, 2013. This horrible act of terrorism left her as one of the names of the seventeen amputees and therefore permanently handicapped at the young age of only twenty-six years old.
Instead of being bitter, Rebekah has used her platform in a huge way by encouraging others worldwide. Speaking out about her story and own daily obstacles, she believes that life's struggles are not only meant to teach us lessons, but make us better versions of ourselves than before. Rebekah's delivery with her quick wit and contagious optimism is sure to have everyone feeling inspired and ready to make their own life changes.
Outlining her popular phrase, "with every new day comes new hope" she never fails to leave her audience ready to "change the world" by keeping their spirits alive in Christ and their eyes on God.
Taking My Life Back
Success.
(Apr. 2017): p83.
COPYRIGHT 2017 R & L Publishing, Ltd. (dba SUCCESS Media)
http://www.successmagazine.com/
Full Text:
TAKING MY LIFE BACK
My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing
By Rebekah Gregory with Anthony Flacco
Rebekah Gregory stood only 3 feet from one of the bombs that went off at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.
After 17 surgeries and more than 65 medical procedures, she agreed to the amputation of her left leg. A devout
Christian, Gregory refused to let such hardships ruin her life. Two years after the bombing, she returned to Boston to
run in the marathon. This is her story of faith and resilience. (April; Revell;$20)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Taking My Life Back." Success, Apr. 2017, p. 83. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA488687704&it=r&asid=e4bc9389788ced31e316013e1e022fea.
Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A488687704
10/7/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507418716117 2/2
Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith,
Determination, and Surviving the Boston
Marathon Bombing
Publishers Weekly.
264.7 (Feb. 13, 2017): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing
Rebekah Gregory, with Anthony Flacco. Revell, $19.99 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-0-80072821-2
It is impossible to remain unmoved by Gregory's emotional, open memoir of surviving the Boston Marathon bombing
in 2013. Aided by Flacco (The Road Out of Hell), she recounts, sometimes graphically, her terrifying experience from
the moment the bomb exploded near her and her young son. From the start, she identifies herself as a Christian whose
past adversities may have helped her find strength to overcome her injuries, both physical and mental. The prose is
straightforward, and her voice is strong and self-aware when she suggests that being abused left her with a tendency to
react with helplessness. There's energy and good humor behind the pain when she describes the "Sad Skill"--"pushing
honesty under the carpet"--that she developed in response to the disconnect between her father's public and private
personas. Being mistreated by her father, a preacher, led her to reject Christianity for a long time, but she found a role
model in her mother, who "just lived [Christianity]." The arc of the story moves from the bombing to a "happy
continuation" in the conclusion. This is a truly feel-good book that doesn't stint on the challenges that life throws at us.
(Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Taking My Life Back: My Story of Faith, Determination, and Surviving the Boston Marathon Bombing." Publishers
Weekly, 13 Feb. 2017, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198244&it=r&asid=8f1e90921738a016a6a40bda2932dcd9.
Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482198244
Today, https://www.today.com/ (April 3, 2017), Scott Stump, “Boston bombing survivor opens up about struggle with PTSD years later.”
Apr. 3, 2017 at 10:02 AM
Scott Stump
TODAY
It has been nearly four years since the Boston Marathon bombing that resulted in Rebekah Gregory losing her left leg, but there are some invisible scars from post-traumatic stress disorder that are still healing.
"I think a lot of people think that because it was four years ago that we've all kind of moved on with our lives, but what people don't understand is the emotional impact of everything is so much greater than the physical,'' Gregory told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Monday.
Gregory, 29, details her journey and struggles during the aftermath of the bombing in her new book, "Taking My Life Back," which will be released on Tuesday. The images seared into her mind on that day are ones that continue to impact her and other survivors years later.
RELATED: Boston Marathon survivor Rebekah Gregory asks for prayers for preemie daughter
"What we saw that day, people's body parts were on the ground next to us, bones were laying on the sidewalk, blood, nails, BBs, ball bearings, and so that sticks with you,'' she said. "There's nightmares, and you're afraid to go to the airport and leaving a bag unattended and things like that. It creeps up in everyday life."
Gregory also writes in her book about her experience with survivor's guilt.
"It's very hard because I was standing right there where some others were that close and they didn't survive,'' she told Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager Monday. "People lost both of their legs and are still struggling. My dear friends are still sometimes in the hospital or having various recovery issues even four years later. It's still very much a part of every day."
Since the bombing, Gregory has gone through a divorce, married her college sweetheart and had a baby girl, Ryleigh, who was born several months premature. The Houston resident also returned to run the Boston Marathon in 2015 with her prosthetic leg.
Gregory was initially told by doctors that due to internal damage from shrapnel, she would not be able to have any more children. She said Rhyleigh is "truly a miracle."
"Doctors told me in Boston that I would never be able have another baby again, and that was something that really was sad for me and sad for (my son) Noah, but Ryleigh did come into our lives,'' Gregory said. "We did spend quite a few days in the NICU, it was very scary, but she's a happy, healthy 11-month-old now."
Gregory's 8-year-old son, Noah, whom she shielded during the blast to prevent any major injuries, is now a happy big brother.
"Noah is running around like nothing ever happened to him, except he likes to tell people, 'I got blown up by a bomb and here's my scars,''' Gregory said.
Gregory also has had a sense of humor during her recovery, naming her prosthetic leg "Felicia," and decorating it with bracelets.
"If I have to have a fake leg, I've got to rock it, right?" she said. "(Felicia) has her pedicure every two weeks. The best thing in the house is 'Babe, where's your leg? I can't believe you lost it again today.' That's our normal life."
She also continues to be an inspiration to others after facing so many challenges in the last four years.
"I feel like everyone's life blows up in their face both literally and figuratively sometimes,'' she said. "I've been through many different aspects of that and I've had so much heartache, but at the end of the day I'm still here to tell my story, and with each chapter I learn so much about myself, and I have a greater appreciation for the world around me, and I'm just so thankful for that."