Jeff Bauman, who lost both his legs during the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, stopped by Barrington High School on Wednesday afternoon and shared a heartfelt presentation with the students.

Mr. Bauman, who wrote the book "Stronger" about his experiences surrounding the terror attack, spoke about how the bombing changed his life and about not holding grudges. He was also asked about whether he thought Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers who planned and executed the attack, should be sentenced to death.

Mr. Bauman said he did not hate the Tsarnaevs, but hated what they did.

Mr. Bauman's appearance at Barrington High School had not initially been planned by officials at the school, but came about through a family connection — high school principal Joe Hurley is the uncle of Erin Bauman, Jeff's wife.

"Jeff's just a very down-to-earth guy," said Mr. Hurley. "I was very excited to see his presentation."

Mr. Hurley's niece attended the event and brought along her and Jeff's baby daughter. The Barrington High School principal said students gave Mr. Bauman a standing ovation after the afternoon's second presentation.