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Northeastern Nursing Students Honored At Graduation For Helping Bombing Victims

BOSTON (CBS) - Northeastern University used its graduation to celebrate the work of Boston's first responders as well as a small group of nursing students who did not hesitate to help the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Among the masses of this year's graduating class was 22-year-old Kelly Ennis. "We just kept getting patients pouring in and blood was everywhere. We just had to remain calm and work as a team," Ennis said.

Kelly was a nurse's aid at the Brigham and Women's emergency department and inside the trauma room as the bombing victims kept coming in. "The patients needed us and we couldn't think about what was going on outside our walls. We put tourniquets around them and prepped them for operating room," Ennis said.

Kelly says nothing could really prepare her for what she saw but her nursing degree and the Boston Marathon tragedy has taught her to put her patient's needs ahead of her own. "It was something I hope never to experience again in my life, but it prepared me well especially two weeks before graduation. It has furthered my yearning to be an emergency nurse. It's my passion." Ennis said.

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