FORMER St Johns College student Jessica Willmott was about half a block away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon when she gave up the fight with the crowds and decided to go shopping.
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She was hoping to get to the finish line area to watch the tail of runners end their marathon effort.
Within a few moments of turning away she heard two explosions "like large fire-crackers" but thought nothing more, her father Stephen Willmott said.
It was not until she had returned to her motel by subway train and turned on the television did she realise the enormity of what she had just missed.
He said Jessica was holidaying in Boston by herself and had responded to her father's text message to say while there was great confusion in Boston she was unharmed and OK.
Mr Willmott works in security at Dubbo Base Hospital and started work yesterday at 6am.
"I was having a cup of coffee and heard on the six o'clock news about the bombing in Boston so I sent Jess a text to see how she was," he said.
"She sent me a text back to say everything was OK."
He then called her and heard first-hand how close a call Jess had missed.
"She told me she was turning into the main street heading towards the finish line when she found the crowds were just too much to deal with," he said.
"She was fed up so decided to go to the park and have a bite to eat.
"She told me, 'I don't know what you are worried about, I'm fine'," Mr Willmott said.
Miss Willmott completed her HSC at St Johns about five years ago and went on to the University of Newcastle to study bio-medical science before returning to Dubbo.
"Jess decided to take a holiday in the US and had wanted to go to Boston," Mr Willmott said.
"She's planning to go on to New Orleans and Miami after her Boston visit," he said.
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