Two Andover Residents Honored As Celtics 'Heroes Among Us'

ANDOVER, MA — Two Andover residents were recently honored at Boston Celtics games as "Heroes Among Us," the team said.

Silvana Sanchez was honored for saving a baby's life and Nicole Clark was honored for her role in preventing wasted vaccines.

The Heroes Among Us program presents an award at each Celtics home game to recognize exceptional contributions by local residents.

Sanchez, a youth life coach for New England Community Services, was honored at the teams' March 4 game against the Toronto Raptors.

According to the news release, she heard cries coming from a trashcan while walking down Dorchester Avenue in Boston. Sanchez alerted nearby EMTs and the EMTs found a newborn inside a grocery bag. The baby was taken to a local hospital, where it recovered.

Clark, the pharmacy director at MelroseWakefiled Hospital, was honored at the team's March 21 game against the Orlando Magic.

Nicole Clark was honored at the Celtics' game against the Orlando Magic on March 21st for her role in preventing wasted vaccines and saving countless lives across New England.

Clark "has gone above and beyond to coordinate COVID-19 vaccine appointments while guaranteeing as many people are getting vaccinated as possible without wasting any doses," the team said. "Clark has helped to adapt the hospital’s storage system to handle storing the vaccines at super-cold temperatures, while also distributing doses to hospital staff and patients."

The news release noted that Clark has done all this despite not knowing when shipments will arrive or how large they will be, "saving countless lives across New England."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.