Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- Darrel Folkert of Redondo Beach , California , stood next to a mailbox near the finish line of the Boston Marathon to cheer on his wife as she completed the race . Moments later he was suddenly thrown by a loud explosion that shattered windows behind him , lifted tables from their foundations and tossed chairs along the sidewalk . `` He was standing right next to the mailbox when it exploded , '' his wife , Jac Bost , told CNN in a phone interview . The mailbox , one of the only objects left intact after the second explosion and the site where authorities have focused their investigation , may have saved Folkert 's life . He suffered non-life-threatening puncture wounds to the leg and returned last week to Los Angeles , where he is recovering , Bost said . Bombings destroy dancer 's foot , but not her spirit . Folkert and Bost , both 42 , are avid ultra-marathon runners , competing in events with distances of up to 50 miles . Bost , a marketing executive , was competing in her seventh Boston Marathon and was less than a quarter mile away from the finish line when she heard a loud boom . She said organizers stopped her as word spread of an explosion and people began frantically running away from the scene . At first , she did not know what had happened to her husband , but strangers lent her a phone so she could contact him . Meanwhile , two men carried an injured Folkert to a nearby store , where they called 911 and lent him a phone to call relatives , she said . `` It was the extreme generosity of people of Boston who offered to help that deserve the praise in the aftermath of what happened , '' she said . Folkert , who is expected to fully recover , and Bost are hoping to locate the two men who treated him at the scene and the others who helped them reunite , Bost said . `` Everyone in the city of Boston was phenomenal , and I ca n't understate the level of generosity we received , '' she said . Site of Blasts reopens .
California man was standing near a mailbox at the Boston Marathon finish line . While cheering for his teammates , second bomb exploded , sending debris flying . He survived the blast , and he survives with puncture wounds to legs .