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| Vol. 24, No. 8 |
| May 1, 2002 |
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To the Rescue by LINDA HINKLE St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital For five days an elderly man was missing in East Texas – a gentleman who had diabetes ... and Alzheimers. The Greater Houston Search Dog Team was called out to help find him. On that team was St. Luke’s registered nurse Kathy Bunker from the St. Luke’s Medical Tower operating room. Most in Jasper had given the man up for dead. News reports became increasingly pessimistic. And then the search dogs picked up the scent of the frail gentleman found sprawled on the ground. "By the time this man was located, he was unconscious, mostly unclothed, and the buzzards were circling," said Bunker of the ordeal two years ago. "We got him just in time. If the dog team hadn’t gone, he certainly wouldn't have lived. For a minimum of 12 hours a week, Bunker volunteers her time to this community service effort, generally accompanied by her dog, Miranda, a German Shepherd named after the Supreme Court decision requiring police to read rights to suspects in criminal cases. It isn’t all Bunker does in the community. Or for the nation. She is also a reserve sheriff’s deputy who patrols Houston waterways, keeping them safe from daredevils who endanger others. In addition, she’s a reservist in the U.S. Army, where she spent a year stationed in Oklahoma, handling orthopedic injuries of Desert Storm troops. Why does she do so much on top of an already taxing career? "I just enjoy helping people," she says. "It always makes me feel like I’m a part of the community in which I live. I’ve met so many wonderful people this way."
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