A Wicked Good Blog: The Bosh Pit

The E Streeters took to the streets of Chelmsford today for a charity 5K (give or take) in honor of a courageous man whose cause we were happy to support by pounding the pavement

On July 2, 2011, Chris Boshar of Chelmsford suffered a spinal cord injury at the C4/5 level. This injury occurred while enjoying a Saturday afternoon with family and friends at a lake in New Hampshire. The accident was just that, an accident – he slipped off the family boat and hit the sand. This injury changed his life and that of his family and friends in one split second.

Chris spent 23 days in the SICU (surgical intensive care unit) at Mass General. While there, he fought pneumonia, infection, surgery, pressure sore, and the emotional acceptance of paralysis. On July 25th, he was air transported to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta to participate in aggressive therapy. For the next 90 days, Chris developed pneumonia, infections and endured a pressure sore that resulted in flap surgery. Despite these odds, Chris continued to push himself to participate in physical and occupational therapy to help regain function. On November 8th, Chris was transported back to Massachusetts and spent 20 days at the Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital as a transition from an acute hospital to home. He is now living in an apartment with his girl-friend, adjacent to his Mother’s home.

Chris is focused on the ultimate goal of walking. He’s participating in every type of therapy. He is a client for physical therapy at Journey Forward – a gym that specialized in spinal cord injuries. He is working with a private trainer who specializes in spinal cord injury. He is participating in a therapeutic program at Boston Medical. He is also open to and participating in a variety of modalities including prayer, acupuncture and energy healing. In addition to out of the home therapy,
Today's race of more than 400 runners and walkers collected money to help support Chris on the road back to recovery. Best of luck to you, Chris, we were honored to support you!
Before the race, we did a 4.5 mile warm-up, roaming Scott's old Chelmsford High Cross Country trails. He kept getting lost, but in his defense, it HAS been quite a while. He still leads the way, though.

Barry was positively glowing on the warm-up

You'd think John was with us today, what with us running along Route 3, and all.

Pre-race, organizers quickly glommed onto Tommy and Mike.

Mike happily boasted his Celtics Pride in advance of Game 7

In the corral waiting for the race star, father/son, doing a fashion faux pas

Out of the gate and down Graniteville Road, we formed a flying wedge for Carlos, but even his Secret Service detail couldn't prevent him from being boxed out by a pair of women.