A Martinez middle school student is being treated at a Boston hospital for injuries he suffered in the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.
Aaron Hern, a sixth-grader at Martinez Junior High School, was in Boston with his parents and sister to watch his mother compete in the marathon, according to Nermin Fraser, principal of Alhambra High School in Martinez, where Aaron’s father, Alan Hern, coaches football.
Katherine Hern, Aaron’s mother, finished the 26.2-mile race in four hours and 12 minutes, according to the Boston Marathon’s official website. A short time later, a bomb exploded near the finish line, followed moments later by another explosion.
Three people were killed by the blasts and more than 150 people are believed to have been injured.
Aaron, who was near the finish line when the bombs went off, was hit by shrapnel and was wounded, Fraser said.
In a note to friends and family members on her Facebook page Monday night, Katherine Hern said Aaron was in stable condition in the intensive care unit at a Boston hospital after undergoing surgery.
She wrote that he “has many lacerations, but mostly superficial except one” and said the family would stay in Boston for about a week for follow-up surgeries.
Today, teachers at Martinez Junior High are addressing Monday’s tragic events and are looking into how they can help Aaron and his family, school Principal Helen Rossi said.
She said school counselors are available to students who are shaken by the event.
“We’re all looking forward to Aaron getting better and getting back to school, because we miss him already,” Rossi said.
Laura Dixon, Bay City News
