Have you ever experienced a life-changing event so impactful, it has completely altered your entire trajectory—for better and for worse? For brave Boston Marathon bombing victim, Adrianne Haslet, this sentiment is all too real.

You see, prior to the horrific terrorist attack, Haslet was a professional ballroom dancer, winning dance competitions and touring the world with her incredible skills. Sadly, the life that she loved was almost taken away from her that fateful day when she decided to cheer on the runners the morning of the 2013 Boston Marathon.

The attack, which ultimately killed and injured well over 250 people, luckily, did not take Halset’s life, but it did take her left leg. This would be a crushing blow to anyone, but for someone who uses their legs for their livelihood, it was a particularly terrible fate to face.

Halset has spent the past five years recovering and acclimating to life with her new prosthetic leg, but that doesn’t mean that she has said ‘goodbye’ to her passions—in fact, quite the opposite.

As soon as Halset was able to, she went back to dancing, prosthetic leg and all. She even gave a TED Talk about her experience the day of the bombing, as well as her road to recovery. From there, the dancer re-entered the ballroom dance circuit, going on to win a blue ribbon at her very first competition back. Not too shabby!

How this Boston bombing victim re-claimed her passions

Clearly, Halset wasn’t going to allow this tragic and painful event dictate the rest of her life. In fact, she felt so strongly about conquering her PTSD and physical challenges that, in 2016, she returned to the site of the bombing to run the Boston Marathon. Talk about gutsy!

Although she faced quite a bit of skepticism, Halset knew that this was something that she had to complete. On her website, the dancer writes about what drove her to go back to the site that changed her life forever.

“I refuse to be called a victim,” Halset says. “A victim is defined by what happened in their life. I am a survivor defined by how I live my life.”

Earlier in 2018, this survivor announced some huge news—she would be running the Boston Marathon once more this year! Halset’s ready to “dance across the finish line,” as she puts it, yet again. She is also running in order to spread awareness and collect donations for a charity that got her through her darkest days, Limbs for Life. Good on her!

To learn even more about this dancer’s phenomenal journey from “victim” to “survivor,” be sure to watch the video below. We know we’ll be cheering her on during this year’s Boston Marathon!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on Adrianne Halset. Were you surprised that she was able to dance and run after her amputation? Have you seen her TED Talk? Have you ever endured a similar injury or recovery to that of Halset’s?