Trauma care important to everybody
Letter to the editor
Arizona Republic
Jan. 30, 2009
...On Oct. 30, 1999, my husband, Payson police Officer Allen Dyer, was shot twice with a .44 Magnum revolver. He was wearing his bullet-resistant vest; however, both shots entered his abdomen. Both also exited, causing life-threatening injury.
Fortunately, two weeks earlier, Payson Regional Medical Center's emergency room contracted for 24-hour helicopter ambulance service. Allen was flown to Phoenix's Banner Good Samaritan trauma center within the "golden hour" for the expert surgery that saved his life. Our two small children did not lose Daddy.
Our daughter Katie, now 20, is a biology major at Northern Arizona University, a new Arizona trauma surgeon in the making with the help of a partial scholarship from the generous supporters of the 100 Club of Arizona. Our son Brad is a senior at Payson High School.
Rural Arizona is not Mayberry with pine trees. We in Payson also lost our police chief, David Wilson, to a gunshot murder. Horrible car and ATV accidents occur. Please remember, your family may need that trauma center next.
- Michelle Dyer, Payson
