BOSTON—It's one thing to talk about workers with disabilities.

It's another to be one.

Both happen to describe Heather Abbott, an HR professional who had part of her leg amputated as a result of the Boston Marathon bombing attacks.

Abbott, a SHRM member, spoke to about 500 HR professionals at the Society for Human Resource Management's diversity and inclusion conference in Boston about her experience learning to live with a disability.

"Even before I became a person of disability, I was advocating to hire people of color, women, veterans and people of disability for my company," Abbott said. "But becoming disabled myself changed my perspective significantly."

On April 15, 2013, Abbott was among the bystanders watching the marathoners cross the finish line. The second bomb blasted her into the entrance of a nearby restaurant and tore off the heel of her left foot. Faced with the prospect of a lifetime of agonizing pain or allowing doctors to amputate her left leg below the knee, she choose to live as an amputee.

Abbott, who continues to work in HR part-time, has since created the Heather Abbott Foundation, which develops prostheses for those who lose limbs during traumatic events.

"When I lost my leg, I was afraid of what would happen to my life," she explained. "I was very lucky that people — mostly veterans — came to visit me and they showed me that my life was going to go on and I didn't have to give up anything I loved because of my condition. With the help of other survivors and veterans, I was able to do what I wanted — paddle boarding, running and even wearing high heels. I was able to do things I loved before even though it was really difficult."

She told the crowd about a coworker with multiple sclerosis who was dropped off at the office and then worked 12 hours a day in the office because his disease prohibited him from driving himself. Abbott said she never understood why he didn't take it easy and limit work hours or even stop working altogether. That is, until she experienced her own disability and understood that people who suffer disabilities often want to try to live the life they had before the disability.

"[After my experience], I truly understood him for the first time," she said. "He didn't want to give up his life like it was before."

Problems often arise in the workplace, though, because both the employee and the employer don't communicate effectively about what workers with disabilities might need to most effectively continue their job duties.

She urged HR professionals to communicate often, and to expand their way of thinking and accommodate the needs and wants of those with a disability.

"We need to recognize that people are different; that we are all different in that we don't know what we don't know, and we need to accommodate them as best we can."

Instant Insights /

Boston bombing survivor advocates for workers with disabilities

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