Boilermaker honored with One Brick Higher Award after saving 2 lives

Purdue President Mung Chiang on Monday (Dec. 1) presented Kellyn Bucceri, a senior majoring in biomedical health sciences with a pre-medicine concentration in the College of Health and Human Sciences, with the One Brick Higher Award.

The One Brick Higher Award is a special recognition given to Purdue faculty, staff and students who go beyond the requirements of their role and through extraordinary effort improve the lives of those around them, increase the effectiveness of the workplace, or prevent or solve problems.

Bucceri, a nationally registered EMT and John Martinson Honors College student, was honored for saving the lives of two individuals in separate incidents, both times stepping in as a bystander to administer lifesaving care before emergency medical services arrived.

In the first incident, which occurred in July, Bucceri was at a beach in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, when she learned that an unresponsive woman had been rescued by lifeguards and bystanders. She initiated chest compressions while a friend retrieved equipment to secure the woman’s airway. After just a few rounds of CPR, the woman’s pulse returned and she regained consciousness before paramedics arrived.

The second incident took place in September at a horse show in Indianapolis. Bucceri raced from the stands after learning that a man had gone into cardiac arrest. Working alongside other bystanders, she performed multiple rounds of CPR, established an advanced airway and began ventilations. Against the odds, they were able to restore the man’s pulse before EMS arrived.

Bucceri credits her EMT training and hands-on experiences for her ability to respond quickly and reduce critical downtime for both patients.

With plans to graduate this December, Bucceri is already combining her practical emergency response experience with a rigorous biomedical health sciences curriculum, building a strong foundation for her next chapter. She hopes to attend medical school and one day become an emergency department physician.