Boston Marathon bombing survivors award scholarship

BOSTON – Two amputee survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing have awarded a scholarship to a college sophomore who lost a leg to cancer as a child.

Jack Manning, of Norfolk, Massachusetts, is the inaugural winner of the “Boston College Strong” scholarship. Bombing survivors Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky presented the award to Manning at a ceremony Monday.

They say Manning was chosen for his “perseverance in the face of adversity.”

Manning overcame his disability to play high school football and baseball, mentor young cancer patients facing limb loss and raise money for cancer research. He’s currently enrolled in BC’s Carroll School of Management.

Downes, a BC alumnus, and Kensky were newlyweds when both lost legs in the attacks near the marathon finish line. Kensky had to have her remaining leg amputated 1 1/2 years later.