One victim of the Boston marathon bombings - injured on her 29th birthday - is taking her first steps on the long road to recovery.
Brittany Loring suffered serious wounds to her left leg in the twin blasts detonated by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday 15th April - and for a while doctors did not know whether it would be amputated.
Now, ten days later, the Boston native is up and about as she inches towards full-health despite her cracked skull and three surgeries to clean the shrapnel wounds caused by the terror attacks.
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Heroes: Britt met two members of the New England Patriots today. Rob Gronkowski and Stevan Ridley - as she continues her recovery at Boston Medical Center
Brittany Loring with Boston Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia who stopped by during the week to wish her well
'She's starting to walk on her crutches, still in a lot of pain and on heavy medication,' said her father, Dan Loring, who is a 53-year-old real estate agent.
'She's looking good. She actually wore clothes today and did her hair.'
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Her fiancé, John McLoughlin, has been keeping a constant vigil at Brittany's bedside, taking time off from his job as a loan officer.
'She's half the team, so I've got to be here,' said McLoughlin to NBC News. 'Her spirits are good. She's still up and down, but overall she's better.'
Brittany Loring and her fiancé John McLoughlin - he has not left her bed side since the Boston bombings left her seriously injured 10 days ago
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, it wasn¿t clear if Brittany would be able to walk again. But that changed Tuesday
Currently at Boston Medical Center where doctors describe her condition as fair, her physicians have not put a time frame on her leaving.
She will need physical and mental health therapy to aid her recovery from her traumatic experience - which her family have yet to discuss with her yet.
'She wakes up in the middle of the night. She has nightmares,' McLoughlin said to NBC News. He believes they are all related
'We wake up a couple of times a night. She's startled, and I try to get her back to bed.'
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Focusing only on her recovery, doctors at Boston Medical Center have told her father. that it is best to not confront the devastating bombing attacks with Brittany just yet.
'We're not bringing that in at this point,' said Loring, of Lancaster, Massachusetts.
'We're trying to build up her stamina – you know she had three surgeries in six days and ... the heavy medication. So trying to get her to eat, think positive thoughts.'
And in positive news, Boston College informed her that she will graduate this spring with a joint degree in business and law, waiving her final exams and some last assignments.
'She's very strong. She'll move on. This will be a blip in the past,' McLoughlin said to NBC News.
'I hope a year from now we're all good.'