Martin Richard’s Sister Has Had 11 Surgeries

The Richard family issued an encouraging but emotional statement on the status of their recoveries from various injuries sustained in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed their eight-year-old son Martin. Martin Richard’s 7-year-old sister Jane underwent her eleventh surgery since the bombing, and it marked the first time doctors were able to close the wound that left her without one leg below the knee. Of Jane’s recovery, the statement says:

We take today’s development as positive news and look ahead with guarded optimism. If things go well, Jane could be ready to transition to the rehabilitation stage of her recovery in the next few weeks.

Getting to this point has not been easy for Jane. In addition to all of the surgeries, she has also had to fight off infections and other complications. After not being able to communicate with Jane for the first two weeks, she woke up with difficult questions that needed to be answered. There are not words to describe how hard sharing this heartbreaking news was on all of us.

Jane’s parents were discharged from Beth Israel a week after being admitted. Denise Richards remains without sight in one eye, and Bill Richards lost some of his hearing and sustained shrapnel wounds and burns in his legs.

The statement says that the family has been aware of various tributes and support from the community, which they’ve appreciated. “The outpouring of support from friends, family and total strangers has been incredible, and it is uplifting to our family in this most painful and difficult time,” they wrote. They asked, though, that people continue to respect their privacy as they recover, and noted that they’ll continue to provide updates on their Tumblr.