BOULDER, Colo. — In the massive crowd at the BOLDERBoulder is one man with an extraordinary story. He would prefer to stay under the radar but said the team he is running with says it all.
On June 1, 2025, Dr. Louis Diamond left his home with his wife. For the first time, he headed to Pearl Street in Boulder to walk for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas at the time.
He didn't come home for five and a half weeks. When he did come back, his house looked exactly as he left it, but everything had changed.
Diamond is one of several people hurt when a man showed up and started throwing molotov cocktails at them. He was burned on both legs and on his arms, covering 20% of his body. His wife even more seriously hurt. They were both rushed to the UCHealth Burn and Frostbite Center at CU Anschutz.
One year later, Diamond isn’t ready to share on camera but insisted we meet the team that helped save his life.
"I saw Lou almost on a daily basis in the hospital," Dr. Arek Wiktor, director of the UCHealth Burn and Frostbite Center at CU Anschutz, said.
Denver7 walked through the center with Dr. Wiktor. He stopped in the hydrotherapy room where Diamond asked to listen to Billy Joel as doctors cleaned his wounds and other treatments.
We saw the floor where Diamond laid in bed for weeks, fighting for a month to heal from the severe injuries with his wife nearby. Their sons went back and forth between both rooms. At the end of the month, they grieved after she passed away from her injuries.
"I can't speak for Lou. It certainly was hard for our staff when that happens," Dr. Wiktor said.
Dr Wiktor said patients are here for so long they become family. He knows the agonizing journey the face.
"He hadn't gotten out of bed. He wasn't able to move his legs," Dr. Wiktor said.
From the get-go, Dr. Wiktor kept telling him one thing over and over.
"Listen, you did the BOLDERBoulder before you're going to be able to do the BOLDERBoulder again," he said.
Diamond and his wife had just finished last year's race six days before the attack.
Dr Wiktor was steadfast Diamond would do it again even after Diamond went through multiple surgeries, removing the burns, skin grafting, physical therapy and was fed through a tube to increase his calorie intake, and so much more.
"The burns are not just skin deep. It changes everything in the body, fundamentally in terms of the physiology in the body," he said.
Turns out, Dr. Wiktor was right. Over the last year, slowly, Diamond regained his strength. He participated at this year's BOLDERBoulder again, but this time, with more than 30 members of the burn unit.
"Seeing him do those baby steps was really important," Dr. Wiktor said. "Seeing him for the first time get out of bed, and even if it was just standing next to the side of the bed."
"He's one of our family members, and we want to support him in in in his recovery," he added.
Dr. Wiktor said it's the largest burn center in the region, taking in patients from seven states.It integrates all the care right there — from dietitians, physical therapy and counseling all in the same unit and on the same floor.
Diamond said the team helped him so much, he wants as many people as possible to know about them.
