Pride
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Healthy Lifestyle
Keeping it clean KSGB still project-driven after 32 years page 15
A S TA R - H E R A L D P U B L I C AT I O N
W W W. S TA R H E R A L D . C O M
Right at home
Not feeling alone
At home and loving it Giving them a voice
NRC changes the way elder care is delievered
Acute Rehab patients help others
Davin Rose returns to help with family business page 11
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CASA director, volunteers help abused and neglected children page 14
Father inspires daughter to pursue military, medical career By MAUNETTE LOEKS Staff Reporter
Two local students will follow in the footsteps of an Air Link flight nurse, finding inspiration in his militar y and health care careers. One of the students inspired by Sean Shirley is his own daughter, Jocelyn Shirley. Her friend, Mattea Schmidt, also found that his stories of adventure and dedication led her to pursue her own National Guard and flight nurse career. Sean Shirley has ser ved in the National Guard for 24½ years, following in the footsteps of his own father, who ser ved as a drill sergeant in the Army. “My dad always said, ‘You will join the military,’” Sean Shirley said. “But it was always my calling. I signed up, planning to do my six years, and now it’s been 24½ years later.” He enrolled in the Army Guard, ser ving in Scottsbluff, before joining the Wyoming Air National Guard 9½ years ago. He’d been considering leaving when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred. “(The attacks) gave me good reason to stay,” he said. I love ser ving my countr y, being a part of a bigger team. I love the camaraderie. It became a part of who I am. I can’t imagine myself not ser ving.” After graduating from nursing school in 1999, Shirley became a commissioned officer in the Air National Guard. “I went from driving trucks (in the Army Guard) to riding in the air ambulance,” he said. Overall, he has ser ved seven tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, transporting soldiers from the front lines to Germany, Walter Reed Hospital in the United States, or even from Walter Reed Hospital to their local bases. Air flight teams, such as those Shirley has ser ved on, and advances in technology have greatly improved the sur vival rates of soldiers from past wars. During the Vietnam War, Shirley said, sur vival rates were estimated at under 80 percent. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, he said, survival rates have gone up to 98 percent. “Techniques have changed,” he said. “Knowledge of treating patients has grown.” The civilian world has also benefited from the advances made in militar y health care, he said, from treating burn patients to trauma patients. See SHIRLEY, page 8
Photo by Roger Holsinger
Gilbert has begun a four-year journey to become a deacon at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Scottsbluff. Gilbert said there is a lot to learn. Once he completes the program he will be able to do many things in the church once reserved strictly for priests. Here, Gilbert assists the Rev. Vince Parsons during Ash Wednesday Mass.
Dan Gilbert answers the call to serve Gilbert allows students to earn credits that can be transferred to a four-year college for a degree in a related field. Dan Gilbert is a ver y busy person, Gilbert knows all about the program but he always finds and the school that has been in operatime to help a stution since 1951. He became a student dent or give back to in 1978 and graduated in 1980. The his community. program is now taught in the St. Mar y Since 1981, Plaza, another location Gilbert is familGilber t has been iar with, since he was born there. working for RegionAfter graduating from Gordon High a l We s t M e d i c a l School, Gilbert said he had an interest Center as program in both education and medicine. In director for the radihigh school he ser ved as the student ography program. manager each year in football, Radiography is wrestling and track. When he attendDAN GILBERT ed the University of Nebraska in Linthe use of X-rays to view a non-uniformcoln, he continued in that capacity for ly composed material, such as the hu- two years with the wrestling program. man body. The program taught by After graduating, he retur ned to By ROGER HOLSINGER Assistant Editor
Scottsbluff and began working for the hospital. As the administrator for the Radiography Depar tment and instr uctor, Gilbert said students learn many aspects of the program including physics, ethics, patient care and the affects of radiation on the body. “Most of the students that leave here are more than prepared to work in the field,” he said. Gilbert said when he started, X-ray films were considered high tech, but today ever ything is computerized and film is no longer needed. Ever ything a physician needs can be pulled up on a computer screen, but students still need to know how it gets from one See GILBERT, page 3
Foundation inspired by girl’s cancer struggle helps community youth a consuming thing,” Jennifer said. “Ever y thought, ever y waking minute is spent focused W h e n To r y a n d J e n n i f e r on that one thing.” Schwar tz’s daughter, Ashtyn, The help of the community was diagnosed with acute lym- “just was a silver lining,” she phoblast leukemia at age 3, the said. ordeal both tested That’s how the and inspired the inspiration kicked couple. in. After Ashtyn’s “The biggest treatment conthing is we saw cluded, the Makethat this communiA-W ish Foundaty just comes totion sent the famigether for people,” ly on a trip, which Jennifer said. allowed some Neighbors and great bonding mofriends helped ments, Tor y and care for the couJennifer said. ple’s other two They were able to children in the focus on each othfirst days follower and it ser ved as ing Ashtyn’s diagthe perfect culminosis, when she nation of the was flown to a monthslong orDenver hospital. deal. Others helped After ward, the – Jennifer Schwartz cook meals for the family wanted to family and sent help other chilcards and gifts. dren and families. “The first six months of treat“We just wanted to pay ever yment were so intense,” Jennifer thing that had been done for us said. She spent long periods of for ward,” Tor y said. time away from her other two The family star ted Team young children, Trevor and Vic- Ashtyn, a foundation to benefit toria. It was also emotionally children and families experiencdraining, with ever y waking mo- ing a cancer or other serious diment before and after treatment agnosis. focused on Ashytn’s health. It “When we star ted the can also be a struggle as par- process, we had a vision of what ents weigh monetar y concerns, we wanted to do,” Jennifer said. family and even marital prob- “It took off before we were prelems. pared.” “It (childhood cancer) is such With other groups helping By MAUNETTE LOEKS Staff Reporter
It (childhood cancer) is such a consuming thing. Every thought, every waking minute is spent focused on that one thing.
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Photo by Maunette Loeks
Tory Schwartz, his wife Jennifer Schwartz, son Trevor, daughter Victoria and daughter Ashtyn take time for a family photo at their Gering home. The Schwartz family founded Team Ashtyn after Ashtyn’s leukemia diagnosis five years ago. Jennifer Schwartz said the foundation serves as a good model for her children about helping others.
families with medical expenses and medical equipment, the Schwar tz’s wanted the Team Ashtyn Foundation to help in another area. The group’s goal is to give, on a local level, the special moments that the Schwartzes experienced during their own Make-A-Wish trip. “We tr y to help them step outside the cancer world,” Jennifer said. “To do something that they wouldn’t be able to do other wise.” They look at treating cancer patients, at pampering family members also experiencing their own struggles or going without during a high-stress time. In 2010, Kyle Kizzaire, a local youth interested in agriculture, became the group’s first recipient. The boy suffered from the same form of leukemia as Ashtyn. Kizzaire received a lot of “magical moments” around the Scotts Bluff County Fair. With the help of fair organizers, he ser ved as an honorar y judge during the swine contest and enjoyed some great nights out at the rubber check races and bullriding contests. His mother, Janelle, and sister, Kaitlyn, were treated to a local shopping spree and lunch. Among the most memorable recipients has been Danika Huston, who died in November 2011 of acute myeloid leukemia. During Huston’s treatment, her See SCHWARTZ, page 2