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‘If you got it; give it’: Drumheller resident donates blood for 88th time

Jerry Schuler, 69, stands inside his business Jerry’s Lock and Key on Friday, March 16. Schuler has donated blood 88 times since he was 18 years old. mailphoto by Terri Huxley

Jerry Schuler is a man often known for his successful Lock and Key business but what most do not know is that he is an avid blood donor and has been donating since he was 18 years old.
The entire process takes approximately one hour including paperwork, questionnaires, and cookies and juice afterward.
“First time that I donated blood, I didn’t know that you weren’t supposed to exert yourself,” began Schuler. “I was at the General Hospital in Calgary up on the sixth floor and was about to donate blood [...] and I had to run down six flights of stairs. I get down there and blood was pumping a little bit but I learned.”
He plans on donating at least 100 times before he will finally quit. His donations happen three times per year on average.
“I just like to donate the blood,” said Schuler. “It doesn’t bother me, it takes a little bit of time, roughly an hour by the time you check in and go through the questions. When I’m giving the blood I’m usually giving a pint within four minutes.”
Schuler worked for a bread company at the time of his first donation. The bakery was located across the street from the General Hospital which eventually prompted him to donate.
“It was spur of the moment, nothing else,” said Schuler.
Schuler explained the blood donation is also good for a person’s health as it helps the body replace older blood cells and create new ones.
If a person has any previously unknown diseases they can be discovered as each sample of blood donated is tested before seeing a hospital room.
“It’s a good way to keep an eye on things if you come up with something,” said Schuler. “Let’s say you get bit by a bug and you get diseased. They will go through [the sample] and let you know. Where if you didn’t donate blood, by the time you realize you have something it might be too late.”
During the 2016/2017 year, Canadian Blood Services made several changes to their eligibility criteria.
First-time donors over the age of 71 are no longer required to have a physician assessment. Most donors with a history of cancer — not including blood-related cancers such as lymphomas and leukemia — can now donate if they have been cancer-free for five years. The waiting period for men who have sex with other men was reduced from five years to one year.
“Blood is needed,” Schuler said. “We don’t have enough donors. With all these different surgeries there is always going to be a need for blood so if you got it, give it.”
Drumheller’s next blood drive will at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) next month.


Livestock Semi Rollover near Hanna last night

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On March 22, at 10:45 p.m., the RCMP, Fire and EMS were called to a semi rollover on Highway 36. The semi was hauling 97 head of cattle.

EMS transported the semi driver to the Hanna Hospital where he was admitted and subsequently transported to Red Deer Hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

The Hanna Fire Department removed the surviving animals from the trailer and corralled them onto a piece of land adjacent to the rollover scene where they will be safe until the owner can pick them up. It is believed about 5 cows died as a result of the rollover.

High winds and icy road conditions are believed to be factors in the cause of the rollover.

37 years later, Kelly Cook murder remains unsolved

KELLY COOK - submitted

After 37 years, the family of Kelly Cook, a 15-year-old girl from Standard who was abducted and murdered, still face each day with the thought of what was taken from them.
On April 22, 1981, Marnie Kathol, the younger sister of Kelly, who was 12 at that time, watched from her family home’s basement window as Kelly stepped into a car purportedly for a babysitting job. This is the last time Marnie saw her sister.
“To say we miss her… for sure. But I don’t think we can actually miss her being anymore because it has been so many years, but we definitely miss what should be,” said Marnie. “For my family, there is barely a day that goes by, but for the community, it is something that has happened in the past, but people have not forgotten her.”
Now 37 years later, the Murder of Kelly Cook is still unsolved, and it still draws interest from the media and the public. One of the reasons may be that on the surface the story seems so innocuous, but turns into a nightmare in a small, trusting town. A young girl gets a call for a babysitting job from a man named Bill Christensen. This is a surname that is common in the area, and although she has never met the man, a friend had referred her. She agrees to the job and tells her family she will call when she is settled at the job.
She is picked up from her home, and that is the last time she is seen alive. The family did not receive a call.
Kelly’s family called the RCMP when they had not heard from their daughter. In the coming days, a local search turned up nothing, and police began to gather clues.

A composite sketch of a suspect in the murder of Kelly Cook of Standard.

A composite sketch of a suspect in the murder of Kelly Cook of Standard. submitted

 

They made a composite sketch of a man about 30-40 years of age, about 5’ 10” with a medium build.
Two months later, on June 29, her body was discovered in the Chin Lake Reservoir south of Taber.
“I think the public doesn’t know any more or any less than we do. I think what we know is what is out there,” said Marnie. “I know that it is still very much in the limelight and the RCMP still look at it and it is very much a part of their day. But the individuals that are responsible for her case are also responsible for current major crimes as well, so you want their resources to go to the right places. I certainly wouldn’t want them to focus on our case when there is so much other bad going on in the world right now.”
According to reports, police have investigated more than 2,000 possible suspects over the years, but have never been able to make an arrest.
While she understands that the case being in the public discourse could be helpful, at the same time there is a community of amateur sleuths online who may get carried away.
“I have been contacted by people that are very much involved in these (sleuth) sites, and with the couple people I have been contacted by, in no way are they helping. They are very quick to point fingers at people…I think it is a form of slander myself when they print these people’s names on these websites,” she said.
She hopes that with the proper information out there, it may help with a break in the case.
“That is what we believe, and I think that is what the RCMP believe, that it is going to come from someone,” she said. “They told us years ago it would more than likely be solved through a deathbed confession or a turn of events in people’s lives. A scorned wife or girlfriend who would just say, ‘I’m not keeping your secret anymore.’”


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