Emma Luster, Drew Luster, Elizabeth Luster, and Sean Gillon grew up more like siblings than cousins. When they were kids, their families got together every Friday night for dinner, a yearslong tradition that began when Drew was hospitalized as an infant and that lasted long after he was able to go home. Since then, they have always had each other’s backs. This year, the cousins are taking on the Boston Marathon together in support of Spaulding Rehabilitation — an institution that has held a special place in their hearts ever since Bill, father to Emma and uncle to Drew, Elizabeth, and Sean, experienced a life-altering medical situation last summer.
A Life-Threatening Diagnosis
In June 2025, Bill found himself in the emergency room at Salem Hospital. A previously manageable wound on the bottom of his foot was getting worse. Within an hour, Bill learned he had necrotizing fasciitis, a severe bacterial infection that spreads aggressively and destroys the body’s soft tissue.
As his care team fought to get the infection under control, Bill remembers visualizing his favorite photo of his youngest son, William, dressed up in a white shirt and tie for school. Bill recalls thinking, “If this doesn’t go my way, William’s going to have to put that shirt and tie on and go to my funeral. And we’re not going to have that. I’m not letting that happen.”
The next day, Bill’s surgeon informed him that to save his life, he would need to perform a below-the-knee amputation. After the procedure, Bill immediately turned his attention to what comes next, despite the sudden life change he had just experienced.
“I knew that Spaulding was the place where everyone in the world wanted to be, so I decided to make a few calls and was able to get myself moved there,” Bill says. “The minute they wheeled me in from the ambulance, I looked around and thought, ‘I’m gonna be okay.’”
A Magical Place
Over the course of the next three weeks at Spaulding, Bill marveled at the hospital’s caregivers. “The dedication and passion and compassion of the staff, every single one of them, was so inspiring to me,” he says. “I don’t know how they found folks who care that much.”
Bill is amazed when he remembers how his physical therapist came in on her day off — the day before her wedding — to make sure that the next step of his rehab went smoothly. This milestone, to climb up a set of stairs, was an especially significant one for him.
“Getting up the stairs was the barrier to me going home and being able to sleep in my own bed instead of in a hospital bed downstairs,” he says. “I couldn’t believe this young woman, who is so good at what she does, came in just to close that loop with me because she knew how nervous I was about it.”
While training for the marathon, Drew has often thought about Bill’s glowing recollections of his time at Spaulding. “I remember Bill saying on multiple occasions that the staff at Spaulding are like angels,” he says. “The way they celebrate every step as a victory and lift patients back up physically and emotionally with such gentleness clearly had a profound impact on him.”
A standout day for Bill was Father’s Day, near the end of his stay at Spaulding. Surrounded by his children, nieces, and nephews, Bill spent that warm Sunday on Spaulding’s deck overlooking Boston Harbor, regaling them with stories about his care and the other patients he met who motivated him to keep going.
“It all seemed to come together on that day,” says Bill. “I was talking about Spaulding in such reverential ways that I was sure they were thinking, ‘Are you ever going to talk about something else?’ But they were completely blown away by what was happening at Spaulding, too. I was going from this low point to leaving there with such great hope that I could deal with the hand I was being dealt.”
Above all, Emma, Drew, Elizabeth, and Sean were moved by determination, grit, and humor — qualities that Bill carried with him throughout his recovery and that Spaulding’s care teams encouraged and championed.
“The incredible environment at Spaulding helped push and support my uncle every step of the way,” Elizabeth says. “It will always make me smile remembering how competitive he was in rehab. He would time himself wheeling down to the front desk, and every single time, he tried to beat his previous time. And when he did, he made sure to update all of us. You could tell he felt supported and truly cared for.”
With a shake of his head and a look of disbelief, Bill agrees, saying, “I just found the place magical.”
“An Amazing Village”
Out of the four cousins, Emma is the only one who has run a marathon before. While running for The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation in 2022, she first learned from a teammate that Spaulding had its own marathon team. After seeing the remarkable experience Bill had at Spaulding, Emma asked her cousins if they wanted to apply to join the team as a way to give back to the institution that aided his recovery. Drew, Elizabeth, and Sean jumped at the chance.
“It felt like the least we could do,” says Emma. “Spaulding saved my dad’s life and completely changed his trajectory. Had this recovery been somewhere else, it could have been so different.”
When the four of them were accepted to the team, they all FaceTimed Bill together to share the good news.
“I immediately teared up when they told me,” Bill says. “I was utterly flabbergasted and felt so lucky. What an amazing village I have around me.”
Now that the cousins don’t see each other as much as when they were children, preparing for the marathon has been a welcome way for them to spend time together. They all lead busy lives — and in Sean’s case, that includes living all the way across the country.
“We’ve all been so close for so long, yet I do feel this experience has brought us even closer,” says Sean, who will be flying in for the marathon from California. “Between training updates, fundraising events and planning, and constant motivation, we’ve all been in each other’s corners so much over these last few months.”
For Emma, Drew, and Elizabeth, who live locally, training for the marathon has meant braving the New England winter. “The snow and extreme temperatures have been constant obstacles, but my cousins and I have found creative ways to get our miles in,” says Drew. “Honestly, I don’t think I would have taken this on without their unwavering support.”
Thinking about crossing the finish line — and what that will mean to Bill and their family — keeps the cousins going on the days when training feels particularly hard.
“I just remind myself who I’m running for and how it will all be worth it,” says Elizabeth. “It will represent resilience, gratitude, and honoring the incredible care and strength that inspired this whole journey in the first place.
On Marathon Monday, Bill and their family — including the rest of their cousins, Kit, Charlie, Lucy, and William — will be at the finish line, cheering the runners on. In a full-circle moment, they are planning to pick their family dinner tradition back up after the race.
“We’re discussing where we’re going to go, just like we used to do on Friday nights, so we can all process this journey together,” says Bill. “We’re still figuring the details out, but we’ll all be together, that’s for sure.”
To support Emma, Elizabeth, Drew, and Sean’s fundraiser for Spaulding, click here.