A 19-year-old who lost his legs in a car crash last year is on the move again, thanks in large part to a Boston Marathon bombing survivor.
Vidal Lopez, of Chicago, was hurt when a tractor-trailer crashed into his car in Mexico last summer. He wrote to the Heather Abbott Foundation in hopes of getting a grant to pay for prosthetic about three months ago and last week got a new pair of legs, thanks to the foundation, the Chicago Tribune reported.
"When I lost both of my legs I thought I wouldn't be able to (do) a lot of things, but with this technology and this support that I have now, I think that everything changed," Lopez told the Tribune.
Rhode Island resident Heather Abbot was one of 17 people who lost at least one limb in the April 15, 2013, bombing. Since then, her foundation has given about 11 other amputees customized prosthetics that weren't covered by insurance.
Lopez's new legs cost about $80,000.
"I know double above-the-knee amputees who travel by themselves, who live their lives, who work, and (Lopez) should be able to do all those things," Abbott told the Tribune. "He's got his whole life ahead of him. So he should have legs that allow him to do that, and I wanted to be able to help him, and everybody in the foundation, the board, made it a priority to get him what he needs."
The Cox Media Group National Content Desk and Associated Press contributed to this report.
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