Adrianne Haslet-Davis was a ballroom dancer before the Boston Marathon bombing that took her left foot.

While the country continues on the road to healing after the tragedy in Boston, it is indeed the stories of those injured by the blasts and their healing process that inspire us. There have been several stories of amazing tenacity and determination to press on, despite being burned, missing limbs, suffering nerve damage, and countless other injuries. Thankfully, all those who suffered from the atrocity of the Boston bombings, are expected to survive.

The only person to reach a hospital alive and then die was one of the suspected bombers — 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

But the remarkable, universal survival one week later of all others injured in the blasts is a testimonial to fast care at the scene, on the way to hospitals, then in emergency and operating rooms. Everyone played a part, from doctors, nurses and paramedics to strangers who took off belts to use as tourniquets and staunched bleeding with their bare hands.

With a multitude of life threatening wounds, every one of these people, from the first responders and doctors and nurses, to the strangers who assisted on the scene, deserved to be commended. The resiliency of the human spirit is an amazing thing. That is part of what Tamerlan Tsarnaev apparently doesn’t understand about the American people.

One story is that of a hair stylist, 47 years old, who made her living by being on her feet. She hadn’t previously been a runner because she used to get painful chin splints. Ironically, Celeste Corcoran was able to retain her sense of humor despite having both legs amputated below the knee.

“So I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t have shins anymore,’” Corcoran, a 47-year-old hair stylist from Lowell, Mass., is heard saying in a YouTube Video of the encounter. “‘I won’t be getting shin splints. I can do this.’”

Another story is that of a dance instructor who lost her foot. Adrianne Haslet-Davis has not only remained upbeat, she is determined to not only dance again, but to participate in another marathon. Even more remarkable, was the fact that her husband Adam Davis, who just returned from Afghanistan, played a part in attending to her wounds by fashioning a tourniquet out of his belt. Adrianne has said she hopes her story “helps people get through a tough time and look on the bright side.”

All of these people are truly incredible and not only inspire us, but will indeed help us maintain perspective when we go through a “tough time.”