Boston Bombing Survivor Killed in Crash Appreciated 'Fragility of Life,' Says Marathon Hero

Victoria McGrath was killed along with a Northeastern classmate.

ByABC News
March 7, 2016, 6:02 PM

— -- Victoria McGrath, a young woman who suffered severe injuries in the Boston Marathon bombing, has died after a car crash.

McGrath, of Weston, Connecticut, was set to graduate this year from Northeastern University, but she and another student, Priscilla Perez Torres, died in a car accident while in Dubai, Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun said in a statement today.

Bruce Mendelsohn, one of the heroes who helped save McGrath back in 2013, told ABC News today that McGrath appreciated "the fragility of life" had "perspective well beyond her years."

Mendelsohn was at a post-race party "almost adjacent to the finish line" when the bomb went off in April 2013.

He "saw a girl half in and half out of an adjacent store ... she was bleeding from her left calf," he said of his first interaction with McGrath.

"I'm a veteran, so I had some training in combat field medicine," he said. "The girl was bleeding and I look around, I see a shirt or a scarf ... and I tie a tourniquet ... I hailed down a firefighter who was running by and I said, 'This woman needs immediate medical attention.'"

The firefighter then picked her up and carried her off, Mendelsohn said.

PHOTO: Victim Victoria McGrath is helped to a stretcher by emergency personnel after two explosions went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.
Victim Victoria McGrath is helped to a stretcher by emergency personnel after two explosions went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.

McGrath was treated at Tufts Medical Center, Brooke Hynes, a public affairs official at the medical center, told ABC News.

"The caregivers at Tufts are heartbroken," Hynes told ABC News today.

Hynes said McGrath was "someone who touched our lives and whom we cared for.”

“She was definitely a bright light,” Hynes said. “And her family was wonderful, and we all got to know each other during a really tragic time.”

Mendelsohn said he is "devastated."

"Over time we became a family," Mendelsohn said, "We lost a member of our family."

He continued: "She lived life with an appreciation for the fragility of life. That's an example to us all. And she really inspired me to live my life in a similar way ... 'Not everything is a life and death matter,' she used to say to me. She had perspective well beyond her years.

"She had a sense of humor," he added. "She brought a lot of joy to people. She very much understood the nature of joy."

University officials said it was a personal trip and the students were not studying abroad. Officials did not know when the crash occurred.

McGrath was studying at the business school at Northeastern and "was devoted to helping others through leadership in student organizations and community service work," President Aoun said in his statement.

"Victoria and Priscilla were vibrant, beloved members of our community, and their passing leaves a grievous absence in our community and in our hearts," the president continued. "Each were kind, talented young women, with exceptional futures before them."

He added: "Victoria and Priscilla touched many of our lives, and we will miss them terribly. Our prayers are with their families and loved ones."