Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor Tragedy: Victoria McGrath Had 'Rare Empathy'

Photo: Victoria McGrath. (Credit: WHDH-7News)

BOSTON, MA — Victoria McGrath, the Boston Marathon bombing survivor killed in a car crash in Dubai Sunday, was remembered as a strong woman who displayed "rare empathy."

McGrath, 23, of Weston., Conn., was among four killed when a Ferrari slammed into a pole at about 12:40 a.m., according to Dubai media reports. The other victims were identified as McGrath's friend and Northeastern classmate Priscilla Perez Torres, 23, Canadian boxer Cody Nixon, 24, and his cousin James Portuondo, 27.

McGrath suffered a serious leg injury in the marathon bombings.

Jill and Jim McGrath on Tuesday released a statement celebrating their daughter's life.

"Victoria’s voice was one that contained rare empathy, which comforted and motivated many people," they wrote. "This rare empathy was earned through her experience of recovering from the physical and non-physical injuries sustained in the Boston Marathon bombings."

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This is the McGrath family's statement:

To the extended family and friends of Victoria McGrath:

Victoria McGrath is being remembered. This past weekend, Victoria died in a car accident while traveling abroad. Even as we are working through the pain, we, Victoria’s parents want to share a brief message.

It is a message of faith and charity.

Victoria’s faith is strong and on display each day. Her faith is true, which is why we can rest assured that she is in Heaven now with our Lord God. This is a great source of comfort — to know that we did not say “good-bye” but rather “we will meet again.”

Throughout her life, charity and caring for others is what motivated Victoria.

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. 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 people.

This rare empathy was earned through her experience of recovering from the physical and non-physical injuries sustained in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Having said that, we would like to personally thank family, friends, Northeastern University, and the people of the City of Boston for the continued support and caring shown to the Boston Strong survivors.

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.

With that in mind, as an expression of our feelings for Victoria, we invite you to carry on the work she loved and to donate to Four Block, a non-profit organization that helps transitioning veterans. Donations made to Four Block in remembrance of Victoria will go directly toward building career readiness programs for returning Veterans in Boston, specifically to aid veterans transitioning into civilian jobs.

Donations can be made directly on the website fourblock.org. After submitting the donation on the website, there is a space available to designate the donation in remembrance of Victoria.

Victoria’s work continues. Thank you.

According to several reports, Nixon had rented a yellow Ferrari and, just hours before the crash, posted an Instagram photo with the Ferrari and the caption, "Just landed into Dubai picked up the Ferrari! Don’t worry I won’t speed ;)"

It was unclear who was driving at the time of the crash.