Jessica Kensky & Patrick Downes

Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky had only been married for seven months when they headed to the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, to cheer on the runners.

But then two homemade bombs exploded, killing three and wounding countless others at the race — including Downes and Kensky, who have had “30 to 40” surgeries on their limbs (and even their ears, which were ruptured in the explosions).

“The bombing did not leave one part of our lives untouched,” Kensky tells PEOPLE.

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