Support Needed for Grand County (CO) Dispatcher

Sept 15th, 2010

The adult daughter of one of our dispatchers was lifeflighted out of our small town hospital to Denver. Our dispatcher, Michelle is a breast cancer survivor who underwent extensive treatment two years ago and has worked in our center for over eleven years in addition to volunteering for her local fire department. Her husband is the Chief of Police in the town that they live in and who we dispatch for. Their daughter Rachel is a volunteer firefighter and mother of three small children, the youngest is just a few months old.

As I said, Rachel was lifeflighted to a hospital in Denver yesterday. They determined that she has a tumor in a bone in her neck and that it had ruptured and she is bleeding into her skull causing pressure on her brain. As I type, she is undergoing surgery hoping to stop the blood flow, they are not even talking about attempting to remove the tumor at this time. The doctors say that the surgery that she is having now is expected to be about 12 hours long and is very rare and very risky. At this time we are just requesting prayers and emotional support. This event has already greatly impacted our small community. I may not be available in the next several days for contact, so I will provide you with an alternate also.

Feel free to try me. I'm out of the Comm center for the next couple of weeks. Contact Jodie Kern at our Comm Center at 970 725-3311.

Thank you so much for all that you do.

Rachel Born
Grand County, CO Communications