On the morning of June 19, 2025, Jill Hadwen experienced the unimaginable. The small plane that was taking her fiancé, Joe Puciloski, to a camping trip in the Adirondacks crashed shortly after takeoff in Beverly, MA. Joe was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital’s Emergency Department in critical condition. He passed away three days later from the injuries he sustained during the accident, at just 28 years old.
Four days before the crash, Joe had proposed to Jill during a weekend getaway on Cape Cod. “What was supposed to be the happiest summer of my life quickly turned into my worst nightmare,” Jill says.
A Devastating Loss
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Jill remembers being in a state of complete panic and shock. As she tried to track down Joe amid the flood of reports about the accident, it was a relief to learn he had been taken to Mass General.
“It was comforting to know that Joe was in the best possible hands,” she says. “I knew that everything that could possibly be done was being done.”
Both Jill’s and Joe’s parents were out of the country at the time of the crash. In the time it took for them to arrive at the hospital, Jill found support in her and Joe’s close friends as well as in the hospital staff that surrounded her. The first night in Mass General’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Jill remembers a clinician who stayed an hour after her shift to ensure Jill and her friends had the most up-to-date information about Joe’s condition.
“I was completely blown away by that,” says Jill. “We were just so taken care of.”
In Joe’s last moments, Jill was thankful for the compassion and dignity the staff provided. “They gave us the space to grieve and to feel and made sure we were able to take care of each other,” she says. “They also allowed us to have extra visitors in the ICU so that our friends and family could all be together during that really difficult time.”
Inspired by the care she, Joe, and their friends and family received, Jill signed up to run this year’s Boston Marathon with the Mass General Marathon Team. The team’s fundraising supports three signature causes, including the emergency department that played such a critical role in their experience.
“I was so incredibly grateful for the kindness that all the nurses and doctors showed us,” she says. “I wanted to do something to give back to Mass General in Joe’s name.”
“My Biggest Cheerleader”
After meeting in college, Jill and Joe bonded over their love of physical activity. From long hikes in the summer to skiing in the winter and running in between, the couple pushed each other to their physical limits and enjoyed taking on new challenges together. To Jill, running the Boston Marathon in Joe’s memory seems like a fitting way to honor his legacy, their shared passion for running, and the care he received in his final days.
“Joe made every day an adventure,” says Jill. “He was so funny, so kind, so good at everything. He was just so easy to love.”
A big smile lights up Jill’s face as she remembers Joe’s intense approach to athletics. “He had only one speed,” she says. “Every single time he ran, he tried to PR [personal record].”
Not even an injury could dampen Joe’s competitive streak. Last spring, he was planning to run his first marathon with his best friend, Andrew Frieling, in Jersey City when he developed Achilles tendinitis. Begrudgingly, he dropped it down to a half marathon. Even then, Jill says he still tried to set a personal record.
“Joe wanted to run a marathon before I ever did,” she says. Now that she is training for the Boston Marathon, she finds her mind frequently turning to him. “I spend a lot of time thinking about what he would say while I’m doing this.”
Jill recalls one such moment when she was completing a particularly grueling training run in February. “It was snowy out, and some of my splits were not great,” she says. “I just thought, ‘Joe would still try to go all out.’”
There is no doubt in Jill’s mind that Joe would be supporting her every step of the way. “He was always my biggest cheerleader,” she says. “I know he would be really proud of me and happy that I’m raising money for a good cause.”
Learning to Breathe Again
For Jill, applying to join the Mass General Marathon Team last fall felt like an important step in her healing process, a way to provide purpose and structure in the months following Joe’s death.
“When the worst possible thing you can imagine happens, you can feel really lost,” says Jill. “The marathon has given me a goal that gets me out of bed every day. It’s helping me get a sense of control back after I lost so much control in my life.”
While the demanding training schedule gives Jill some parameters to plan her daily routine around, she also finds running itself to be therapeutic. “It’s helping me regain that sense of bodily control, too, like learning how to breathe and how to pace myself,” she says.
When Jill thinks about completing the race, she looks forward to seeing Andrew and his wife, Shannon, cheering her on at the finish line. “Joe was Andrew’s best man at his wedding, and he’s like a brother to me. He was one of the first calls I made after the accident,” she says, noting how supportive he and Shannon have been since Joe passed away. “Yeah, we’re stuck together.”
In keeping with Joe’s competitive spirit, Jill says with a grin, “My goal would be to beat Andrew’s marathon time.”
As she reflects on her journey to get where she is today, Jill sees running the 26.2 miles as a testament to all she has done to take care of herself after facing such an immense loss. “It will represent all the work I’ve put in this past year, everything I’ve done to focus on my mental health and readjust my life goals,” she says. “It’s about knowing that I can do hard things.”
To support Jill’s fundraiser for Mass General, click here.
