The father-in-law of New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis remains in critical condition in a Boston-area hospital after underdoing three surgeries since he was severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.
Reis told the media at Revolution practice on Wednesday that his father-in-law, John Odom, has made progress since suffering the injuries, but it’s been minimal.
“We’re talking about footsteps here,” Reis said, “and not very big strides.”
According to a report in the Torrance Daily Breeze, Odom was roughly 20 feet from the first blast. Odom reportedly suffered serious trauma to his legs and lost a large amount of blood in the explosion.
Odom was in town from California to watch Reis’ wife run the marathon. Both Reis and his wife are UCLA graduates.
“It’s amazing how things change just in an instant,” Reis said Wednesday. “It has been chaotic. We’re just trying to get through it the best we can and really trying to support John in everything that’s going through.”
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Reis said Wednesday that he was with Odom just minutes before the explosion, but moved to be closer to the finish line in order to snap pictures of his wife. Seven people were in the group, and Odom was the only person injured.
“We were all milling around that area … where the bomb went off,” he said. “It was like a cannon going off. At first I thought it was part of the race, but I knew it wasn’t. Looking back to where it had gone off, I could tell that was right where we were. I wanted to try and get back there and help as much as I could.”
Reis attended the team’s practice on Wednesday to give his teammates an update on the situation and extend his thanks to the team for its support.
“We just want John to get better and turn the corner, and start to show some strides of recovery,” Reis said. “We still don’t know if he’s out of the woods yet, and we still don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
