Boston bomb survivor whose sister was pictured in iconic photo reveals how she suffered nightmares while recovering from amputated leg in same hospital as attacker

• Nicole Gross, 31, was pictured after the bombings in now iconic image
• 'I remember exactly what I was going through... confusion and fear'
  
• Her sister, Erika Brannock, 29, had her left leg amputated after the attack
• She feared bomber would blow up the hospital where they both were

By Lydia Warren

PUBLISHED: 12:05 EST, 29 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:36 EST, 29 May 2013

The woman whose shocked face amid the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombings became an image of the terror has broken her silence to speak out about the life-changing attack.

Nicole Gross, 31, and her sister Erika Brannock, 29, attended the marathon on April 15 to cheer for their mother - and were left with devastating injuries and fears of further attacks.

In the interview alongside her sister, Brannock revealed how she suffered nightmares after one of the bombers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was moved to her hospital as she recovered from an amputated leg.

'When I would go in for surgeries, I would pass by the ICU where he was,' she told CBS. 'I started having nightmares that he was going to get out of his bed... I thought he was going to blow the hospital up.'

Scroll for for video

Speaking out: Nicole Gross (second left), who appeared in a now-iconic picture after the Boston bombings, has spoken out with her husband, her sister, who lost her leg in the attack, and their mother

As well as losing her leg, Brannock, an elementary school teacher, suffered a compound fracture, a broken ankle and a broken foot to her right leg. She also suffered burns and loss of hearing.

Gross, a fitness instructor from Charlotte, North Carolina, broke her left leg in two places, suffered a fractured right ankle and a severed Achilles' tendon. She was released from hospital on Friday.

In the interview with CBS, Gross said that the iconic photograph of her surrounded by blood and debris had at first been too much to look at.

'At first I could only look at my face, it was too much to see the surroundings,' she said. 'But I remember exactly what I was going through... confusion and fear.'

Image of shock: This picture of Gross after the bombings was used on newspapers across the world

Recovery: Nicole, left, and Erika, right, are pictured in hospital after the suffered devastating leg injuries

Life changing: Erika shows her bandages after her left leg was amputated following the attack

Both of the sisters said that at the moment the bomb was detonated near the finish line, everything slowed - and then fell silent.

'I was scared for dear life that another bomb was going to go off and I was going to die,' Gross said, wiping away her tears.

'There's guilt because I moved Erika and I closer to exactly where the bomb went off,' she said. 'I wish I could take everything Erika's been through and put it on my body.'

The sisters, who wept as they looked at each other and recounted their stories, said that the tragedy had brought them much closer.

'It's a closeness that I think is indescribable,' Gross said. 'We were able to communicate our love for one another in a way we weren't able to before.

Emotional: Nicole, left, and Erika, right, said the bombings and their recoveries have brought them closer

Support: The sisters are pictured with their mother Carol who they were cheering for at the marathon

Before the race: Nicole, a fitness instructor, helped train her mother and wanted to see her complete it

'We were right on top of each other when it happened and we're going to be side by side no matter where we are forever.'

Brannock remains in hospital in Boston but has plans to return to her pre-school classroom. Gross has returned to Charlotte, where she lives with her husband of seven years, Michael.

Gross, who is regarded as one of the best female triathletes in North Carolina, will continue to undergo physical therapy for her injuries.

'I know that I’ll take my competitiveness into my rehab,' Gross told the Charlotte Observer after she arrived home. 'Whatever happens from there will be great. If it's competing or if it's just casually working out, at least I can be active again.'

See below for video