Burned, Amputated, Isolated — Now Marc Fucarile is Leading a Disability Revolution

@marcfucarile 

@marcnetworkinc

A chance encounter at the Chicago Abilities Expo led to one of our most powerful conversations yet. Marc Fugarile, a Boston Marathon bombing survivor, shares his journey from the devastating moment when the second bomb detonated just feet away from him – instantly amputating his right leg, setting him ablaze, and leaving him fighting for his life.

With remarkable candor, Marc reveals the profound isolation he felt during recovery, describing how it took three and a half years to find the appropriate prosthetic socket for his needs. "I missed three and a half years of my son's life because I wasn't able to be standing up," he explains, his voice carrying both grief and determination. This frustrating experience sparked the creation of the MARC Network (Mobility Awareness Resource Community) – a free mobile app connecting people with disabilities, their families, and service providers in one digital space.

What truly distinguishes Marc's vision is his recognition of untapped power within the disability community. "We are a community made up of 60 million people that control a trillion dollars in spend every year," he emphasizes. Yet this immense potential remains fragmented by systems that divide people by specific conditions, diminishing their collective voice. Mark passionately argues for unity, noting how the disability community consistently bears the brunt of economic downturns and policy decisions made by those unaffected by the consequences.

The MARC Network represents more than just technological innovation – it's a movement to reclaim agency and create sustainable support systems. As Mark explains his public benefit corporation model that channels resources back into community needs, we glimpse what's possible when tragedy transforms into purpose. This speedcast episode may be shorter than our usual format, but its impact will stay with you long after listening. Download the MARC Network app today and join a community that's redefining what's possible.

Download the MARC Network APP:

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/marc-network/id6467240921

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.disciplemedia.marcnetwork&pli=1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, guys?
As you can see, we're not inthe studio at home.
We're actually at the AbilitiesExpo in Chicago and this
podcast is going to be a littledifferent.
It's going to be like aspeedcast.
The sound is not going to be asgreat because of how wide open
this space is, but I hope youguys enjoy it.

(00:22):
Please enjoy this.
Lif to the Max speedcast.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Classic Mark Fugariel , who chooses hope.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Right, he chooses hope Right person that was

(01:09):
actually a survivor of theboston marathon bombing and I'm
super blessed and happy to haveon the podcast it's mark.
Thank you so much for makingthe time to come on yeah, man,
thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thank you for having me and thank you for being out
here at the abilities expo whatbrought you out here?

Speaker 1 (01:20):
are you a vendor?
Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, I started the MARC Network, the Mobility
Awareness Resource Community,m-a-r-c.
Yeah, it's a free mobile app,so I'm out here promoting that
to the community.
April 15, 2013,.
I was at the Boston Marathonsupporting a friend of mine who
graduated high school rightaround the same time I did.
We worked together, we werefriends and he was a Marine, is

(01:45):
a Marine.
He had retired and he decidedhe wanted to participate in the
Boston Marathon.
So I was 35, never had gone tothe marathon, never cared to go
to the marathon, but because hewas there, I wanted to support
him and thank him for hisservice and sacrifice that he
made.
So, a group of our friends, weall went and the rest became

(02:07):
history.
We witnessed the first bomb gooff and 12 seconds later, the
second bomb went off, right nextto me.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Jesus.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Christ, yeah, a few feet away.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
I'm really sorry that happened man.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
No man, I appreciate it.
You know I was blessed.
It took a lot of people thatrushed in to help people that
they didn't even know they putthemselves at risk.
My right leg was amputatedthrough the knee instantly.
I was on fire.
I was.
I watched the surveillance tapefrom the forum restaurant.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
You're on fire yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
The flash from the bomb lit my clothes on fire,
blew him off my body, jesus,like the pants from the waist
down were pretty much justdisintegrated um 80 percent of
low half my body was burnt um.
The cop first cop on sceneactually went to me first and
put me out.
I watched that happen.
Then he looked and went to achild that he picked up and got

(03:04):
out of the situation and then Iwitnessed two other people put
me out.
Yeah, because I kept reignitingthe flames.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
It's a blessing you're here.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I'm happy you're here 100 percent.
Thank you, man.
I appreciate it.
And you know how it with yoursituation.
You know how it goes.
We're not prepared for theseincidents to happen.
You know, and as I was layingin that hospital bed, missing my
right leg and fighting to keepmy left, and, you know, dealing
with the burn and skin graftsand stuff, you know I didn't

(03:37):
know what my life was going tolook like moving forward.
You know, I was really worriedabout that.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
It's like a paradox.
Yeah, yeah, it's upside down,you don't moving forward.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
You know, I was really worried about that and
it's like a paradox yeah, yeah,it's upside down you don't know
what's going on so that's kindof why I created the mark
network, because I startedworking with non-profit
organizations veteran veteranorganizations, camp where kids
were missing limbs and limbdifferences, and another
organization called granitestate adaptive sports, and I

(04:05):
started learning from familiesthat I wasn't the only one that
felt that way, you know, likealone afraid.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
I was just talking about that with someone else.
Like the disabled community, wefeel alone, but there's a
community.
It's huge, right.
Yeah, the problem is we're notin's huge, right yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
The problem is we're not in one location, right yeah.
So that's why I created theMARC Network, the Mobility
Awareness Resource Community.
It's a free mobile app whereindividuals facing challenges of
all types not just mobility,but disability challenges and
life challenges they're lovedones in the community that
services us, like physical,occupational therapists,

(04:46):
wheelchair providers,prosthetists, and the list goes
on mental health, drugrehabilitation to engage in
conversation, share informationand share resources.
It's a.
It's a free app.
It's an Apple Google.
You can download it, create aprofile.
It's the same thing asInstagram and Facebook kind of
marketplace.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Download the app everyone.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
The Mark app.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, it download the app everyone.
The Mark app.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
A-M-A-R-C.
Yeah, it's just a greatopportunity for people to be
advocates, right To advocate andsay, hey, I use this product,
man, it's amazing.
I recommend it for everybody.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
You know, it's just kind of like a lifeline, yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, and it can work in so many different ways where
physical and occupationaltherapists can learn about our
community and see what we'recapable of doing, so they can
see how hard to push us Right.
And then also so they canactually gain information about
products, so they can makerecommendations to their
customers and people thatthey're caring for.

(05:41):
But then it's also a greatadvertising platform for
products and services toadvertise directly to our
community, so we know they existand we don't have to come all
the way out to an expo to see it.
You know, but it's so that webenefit from that.
Yeah, you know.
So we benefit from that, right,of course, if there's a great
new software that's coming outthat you can control with your

(06:03):
eyes, you want to know about it,right, of course?
Well, there's no way for themto advertise to you.
So that's why I created theMark Network, so that's the
place that everybody should beat, sharing information and
share resources.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
You get it.
Yeah, I like that man.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Call me Mark Zuckerberg, but it's Mark
Fuquero.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Dude, that's awesome.
Have you had success with theapp?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
So right now we just launched I mean we're just
launching, it's 900 communitymembers.
Right now we have a fewfoundations on there, a few
company and products andservices.
The app.
We have gamification within theapp because a lot of things we
want to do and activate in theapp, but we need the community
to get on board, start sharingand helping each other.
It took me three and a halfyears to find the socket that

(06:47):
I'm wearing on my prosthetic leg, um, and I missed three and a
half years of my son's lifebecause I wasn't able to be
standing up like not that, notthat I missed his life, but I
just couldn't partake in thingsthat sickens me, because I mean,
like when we have the resourcesand we're like the richest
country in the world and youcan't even get a prosthetic leg

(07:10):
to someone that survived theBoston Marathon bombing, or just
in general like that's justcompletely and utterly absurd.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
That makes me upset.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Us as a community.
Look at us.
Look at how many people arehere in this room, right, yeah,
thousands, okay, and we'rewaiting and relying on
government and insurance to fixour problem.
It will never, ever happen.
You know what I mean it willnever, ever happen.
You know what I mean.
Like we need to take action andwe need to create opportunity
and businesses for ourselves.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
I realized.
I realized when I was disabled,when I got disabled, that the
community that gets hit the mostlike when something happens,
the stock market crashes oranything like a rift in the
waves it's the disabledcommunity.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Because the people that make the decisions that
handle our taxpayers' dollars.
It doesn't affect them.
So that's what we need to startrelying on others.
We need to do it.
We are a community made up of60 million people that control a
trillion dollars and spendevery year Medicare, medicaid
and private insurance subsidizesanother $500 billion a year.
Globally, we're 1.8 billionpeople affected by mobility

(08:24):
disability and we control $13trillion in spend.
We don't need anybody we cancreate.
So if I had every drug andmental health so mental health
and drug rehabilitation facilityacross this country there's
over 400,000.
If I got them on my app toadvertise for $20 a month, which
is nothing to their marketingbudget, that would generate $8

(08:47):
million for me to give back intothe community.
I'm a public benefitcorporation and by federal laws
I'm required to give back to thecommunity a benefit.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
Dude, I hope that happens because, like you, could
help people get prosthetic legsand stuff.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
All day and every day .

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Because I interviewed this guy, Matt Ream.
I don't know if you've heard ofhim, but he was trapped under a
bridge during Christmas in histruck Frostbite.
No, his leg was stuck into thistruck.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
On the firewall of the yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
I have a podcast on it, like if you want to know the
super long story short he hadto wait.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
It takes a long time.
I mean, there's a lot of thingsin our community that just
doesn't make sense to me.
When I had to get fitted for mywheelchair man, I had to wait
two months to get measured LikeI can measure anything in two
minutes, like you know why doesit have to take two months?
And then you got to wait eightto 12 weeks for the wheelchair
to be manufactured and made.

(09:56):
That's crazy, that's wild to me.
But that also comes down to youknow, like we talk about
government, right, let thembreak it.
Um, you know, our manufacturinggot shipped overseas, right,
because politicians took pay,you know, took back to a paid
time, um.
So you know, that's.

(10:16):
That's insane to me.
That we have to wait that longfor things to be built, made and
produced.
It's wild I can.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
It is wild and I I'm very blessed because I'm with
the va, yeah the va like takescare of me, but I've heard the
horror stories.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
I mean you think about it.
There's like my wife has noarms and legs and she, um, you
know her insurance company willpay 30 000 or whatever it is,
for this big wheelchair that youknow comes up and down and this
and does all this crazy stuffthat she doesn't even want.
But they won't buy her an$1,800 folding wheelchair, right

(10:52):
, like that she uses every day,like her power chair that she
got through insurance.
She used it for one day and nowit's in the garage.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Money.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Money, but why?
And now it's in the garage.
Money Money, but why?
And I'm going to tell you.
You know, we always go and getthe cuts.
Like you said, when thingshappen, it's because they, on
purpose, they've divided us as acommunity.
Right, so you're a spinal cordinjury?
Right, I'm an amputee, so theywant you to join the Spinal Cord

(11:24):
Association.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
We're going to talk to amputees.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
And they want me to join the Amputee Coalition.
And then they want the blind tojoin the Blind Coalition.
So what they're doing isthey're really dividing us by
our disabilities, which makes ussmaller in numbers, so we have
a smaller voice.
We need to come together as acommunity under one location and
be that big community and thatbig voice again, because that's
what the ada was formed at, youknow, when we were a bigger

(11:47):
community.
But then they noticed we needto divide these people because
we need to not listen to them,and we don't have to listen if
they're small in numbers yeah,and it's not all about just
parking and like you know, likegoing into restaurants, it's
about treating us like humanbeings.
And.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
I totally agree with you, man.
It's been a pleasure having youon the podcast.
I want to get your informationso we can do a full podcast.
I'll fly you out and everythingto Chicago.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
We would love to partner up with you and get you
on.
We have what we have called theMark TV, which is like YouTube,
podcast channels that are justlinked out to what you're doing.
We'd love to have you on as aresource for people with
mobility challenges.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, definitely, I'll do it live to the max, and
myself will be there for sureit's a blessing.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
Thank you for your service andyour sacrifice.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Thank you for your service and uh your sacrifice
man yeah you've been through alot and, uh, I, uh, really
appreciate this interview yeah,man, I appreciate you having me
on.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Thank you very much everybody.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
If you like this content, please comment, like it
, subscribe.
As always, take a breath for me, thank you.