The parents of Victoria McGrath remembered their daughter with a “message of faith and charity”, describing her voice as one of “rare empathy”.
“Throughout her life, charity and caring for others is what motivated Victoria,” her parents, Jill and Jim, said in a statement released on Tuesday through Northeastern University, where Victoria was a student.
“Her compassion first revealed itself when she was working with underprivileged children and children with disabilities. In recent years, she had spent her time helping homecoming American veterans who were recovering from trauma of their own,” the McGraths said.
“In a society that is abundant in support for troops but often lacks true understanding, Victoria’s voice was one that contained rare empathy, which comforted and motivated many.
“This rare empathy was earned through her experience of recovering from the physical and non-physical injuries sustained in the Boston Marathon bombings.”
The family thanked Northeastern and the city of Boston for their support of those who survived the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“There are any number of ways that one can respond to tragedy, and the majority of the options can be destructive.
“What Victoria taught all of us was how, against the odds, to respond with determination, humility, and not a single note of bitterness.
“Let us gather our grief and understand what it truly is – a transmutation of our love for Victoria – and let that understanding motivate us to be constructive as we eventually emerge from this tragedy.”
The parents asked people to “carry on the work she loved” and donate to a charity that helps American veterans enter civilian jobs.
Donations can be made to the charity Four Block in remembrance of Victoria, and would go directly toward career-readiness programmes for returning veterans in Boston.
The charity's website is fourblock.org.
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