his name is gabe martinez, a marine corporal, i thought it was a marine sergeant. rong. he lost both legs after stepping on an ied in afghanistan, gabe and a fellow marine paid a visit to one of the survivors. >> you know, you will be independent. >> i can't do anything right now. >> right now, yes, but i'm telling you, with all my heart, are you going to be more independent, you know, than you ever were. >> i'm so glad you are here. >> gabe martinez, nice to meet you. >> thank you for your service, number one. >> back up, if people don't know the story, that was sydney and celeste corcoran, on the finish line, visiting a sister who was running. >> mother and daughter. >> mother and daughter, battling it out in their own room. you saw them, how were they? >> first of all, they were out of their hospital beds, for me, being a patient at one time. that's step one right there. getting out of the hospital bed, and they were -- they were in great spirits. a huge support system, all of the family there and that's the first thing i noticed. >> gabe, you lost both your legs

few of us can really understand what that's like so enter marine sergeant gabe martinez who lost bothter stepping on an ied in afghanistan on thanksgiving day, 2010. he came to boston to deliver a message of hope to victims of the terrorist attack like celeste and sidney corcoran. >> i can't do anything right now. >> right now, yes. but i'm telling you, with all my heart, you are going to be more independent, you know, than you ever were. >> i'm so glad to hear that. >> marine sergeant gabe martinez joins me here in boston. as i said this morning, thank you for your service. really appreciate it. thank you for your heroics now helping with the people like the corcorans. we saw just a three-minute youtube clip. tell us what it was like to experience that. what did you tell them and how are they doing? >> that was three minutes ago. probably a long, lengthy hour of a visit with them. i went in with other heroes and we just went in there and basically just coped with them. and told them everything will be all right. and being that i have the same injuries as the mother celeste it really

. >> reporter: sergeant gabe martinez only just met celeste corcoran. >> so you -- >> we're the act same. i'm four inches above the knee. >> reporter: a double amputee, gabe lost both of his legs to a roadside ied in afghanistan in 2010. celeste lost her legs when the finish line of the boston marathon became a war zone. >> we have the same injuries. just to be on that level with somebody, it really gave me, you know, the platform to speak from the heart and tell her how it's going to be. >> reporter: these people lost their limbs from ieds. does that make it more personal? >> absolutely. >> it does. >> reporter: sergeant b.j. ganam lost a leg to an ied. he, gabe, and a handful of others from the semper fi fund are visiting the boston bomb survivors, offering not just financial support, but real life advice. >> their whole lives are going to change. it's not just to get out of the hospital, heal and throw a prosthetic on, wham, bam, thank you ma'am and they're done. it's the rest of their life. >> reporter: roseann moved to a rehab center this week. her

if there is anyone that can relate, it is a marine sergeant gabe martinez. lling the victims in this tragedy. so, gabe, you lost both your legs in an ied incident in march, afghanistan, thanksgiving, 2010. what are they feeling now that you felt at that time? >> their mind is filled with questions. it is starting anywhere, ranging from what am i going to do now. is my life over? am i ever going to be independent again or just dependent on somebody taking care of me the rest of my life. and i went through that plethora of questions when i was in the hospital. i had my ups and downs. happy one day, sad the next. it is just right now they're just kind of discovering who they are now. and it is going to be an ongoing process that will take some time but every one of them will pull through. >> i was talking to a couple of veteran amputees earlier this week and they were saying, brooke, it is one thing to overcome the initial couple of hurdles, but you never know out of the blue one day, it is depression that was really tough for them to work through. what could yo