WESTBROOK – A year after losing her leg and a close friend in the Boston Marathon bombing, Karen Rand McWatters, formerly of Westbrook and South Portland, is steadily recovering. McWatters, who grew up in Westbrook before moving to South Portland, now lives in Somerville, Mass. Last year, McWatters was standing next to her best friend, Krystle Campbell, while the two watched McWatters’ boyfriend – and now husband – run in the Boston Marathon.

McWatters and Campbell were at the site of the first of the two explosions that occurred near the race’s finish line on the afternoon of April 15. McWatters was carrying Campbell’s identification, and for a time doctors working on McWatters believed they were operating on Campbell, who was one of three who had died in the blast.

According to her son, according to her son, Andrew Rand, McWatters spent considerable time in Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, recovering from the loss of her leg, which was amputated below the knee, and is still rehabbing with constant physical therapy.

“She’s starting to get up and around a little bit,” he said, adding that the difficulty lies in getting the right prosthetic. “She still hasn’t got a perfect fit.”

He said that throughout the last year, there have been multiple initiatives and donations for each victim of the bombing that have assisted in McWatters’ recovery, including donations from prosthetic companies and an initiative that made McWatters’ home wheelchair accessible.

“A lot of people came through and helped,” he said. “Too many to even list.”

In the weeks following the blast, she also had a number of high-profile visitors including President Barack Obama, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who, Rand said, checked in on the family every day.

Following the marathon bombing, Andrew Rand, along with his brother Stephen, created a fundraising campaign on the website giveforward.com to help raise money for their mother’s medical bills and general expenses. In just six days after setting up the fund, the brothers had raised nearly $10,000 for their mother. Rand said last week that the total amount raised was about $30,000, which included other fundraisers hosted by family and friends, such as events in Old Orchard Beach and at the Eagles Club in Portland.

Rand added that while not able to work, his mother has been assisting in charitable activities, which have included donating a prosthetic to 13-year-old Estefani?a Salinas from El Salvador, who had lost her leg in a car accident. McWatters also helped in raising money to bring Salinas to Boston for physical therapy treatment at the Shriners Hospital for Children.

Rand said last week that his mother will not be attending the marathon this year.

“She still doesn’t like to be in crowds,” he said.

Instead, Rand said, he will be there representing the family in various ceremonial aspects for this year’s event, on Monday, April 21.

“Most of the things going on down here that the marathon victims and families are going to, I’ll be attending with my wife,” he said.

Karen McWatters, left, who lost her leg and a close friend in the Boston Marathon bombing a year ago, stands with her son, Andrew Rand, and his wife recently in Cambridge, Mass.

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