Menu
Shankel credits state employee with saving his life
On Feb. 15, Mary Gonzales was in the right place at the right time.
That day, Gonzales, an employee in the Bourbon County Driver’s License office on the second floor of the county courthouse, was performing her regular job duties when a customer experienced a health emergency. That customer, local resident Curt Shankel, had come in to renew his driver’s license, which consisted of a vision test and questions.
Shankel, who suffered a stroke December 2014, has battled some health issues and gone through physical therapy since that time.
“I felt because of his current physical state, it might not be safe for him to drive a car,” Gonzales said. “He looked like he was under the weather.”
Gonzales said she began a process that involved sending information to Topeka in order for Shankel to get medical clearance to operate a vehicle.
“Then we can arrange a drive at a later date,” she said. “Curt had been in here before and we talked about giving him time on his license, have him finish his therapy and come back,” Gonzales said. “He was not quite there at that point.”
Shankel and his caregiver, Nina Merriman, had barely left the driver’s license office when Shankel began feeling nauseous.
Merriman said Shankel’s legs became shaky and she had to hold him up. Merriman said she saw County Counselor Justin Meeks on the second floor and asked Meeks for a chair. Meeks grabbed a chair for Shankel and by the time Shankel sat down in it, “he was (passed) out,” Merriman said.
Shankel said the only memories he has of the incident are coming out of the driver’s license office, and being placed on a gurney to be transported to the Mercy Hospital emergency room.
“I started walking forward and they had a chair. I was having some trouble breathing,” he said. “There was something going on with my windpipe.”
See the print or online edition for the complete story.