Students, faculty, and staff from the School of Nursing joined an outpouring of support for Jessica (Kensky) Downes ’09 and husband Patrick, injured in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing. Hundreds of well-wishers from the School of Nursing and Johns Hopkins Hospital conveyed their thoughts to the Downeses through Twitter campaigns and on a signed 10-foot by 4-foot banner that was taken to Boston, where the Downeses live and are recovering from their wounds. “As we struggled through the initial days after the Boston Marathon attacks and then began the long road to recovery, we have known every moment that we are blessed with enormous support,” the newlywed couple wrote on a web page set up by friends in the days after the attack. “There is evidence at every turn that we are not alone. Thank you; you have lifted our spirits.” Jessica, a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Patrick, a grad student in clinical psychology, each lost a leg in an explosion near the marathon’s finish line.
