After a grueling, eight-hour heart transplant at St. Louis Children's Hospital last month in which she was the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. Jennifer Cole emerged from the operating room to find a new hospital cleaning woman struggling with her cart.
Dr. Cole jogged down the hallway, flashed a smile and opened the door for the cleaning woman, saying: "Hi, I'm Jennifer, nice to meet you."
"That was Dr. Cole; a great healer who was always friendly and helpful to everyone she met. She's the kind of person people aspire to be like, me included," said Dr. John Edney, a pediatric anesthesiologist fellow at the hospital who also was part of the operation.
Dr. Jennifer Wray Cole died Saturday (July 2, 2011) after her bicycle was struck by a car on a two-lane road in rural Jersey County. Dr. Cole had just signaled she was making a left turn when the driver of the car also made a left turn from behind her bicycle, the Illinois State Police said.
Dr. Cole was pronounced dead at a hospital. She was 52 and lived in Glendale.
Jersey County State's Attorney Ben Goetten said Wednesday that he hadn't decided whether to file charges against the driver of the car.
Dr. Cole's husband, Clark H. Cole, said his wife was with two other cyclists on a 50-mile training run that had started near the Coles' lakefront home near Jerseyville.
Dr. Cole began running and bicycle riding in her late 30s. She ran the first of more than two dozen marathons at age 40 and completed three Ironman triathlons.
She was training for a race in New York in hopes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
"She wasn't really a natural athlete but she trained and had a lot of discipline," said Clark Cole.
Dr. Cole grew up in Baton Rouge, La., where her father was a general practitioner physician. She and her future husband met at Louisiana State University, where he was finishing his studies as she was beginning hers.
They moved to St. Louis, where she enrolled at Washington University to train as a physical therapist before switching to pre-med. She became a pediatric anesthesiologist at Children's Hospital, where she practiced for 20 years.
"She had a confidence in her knowledge and skill that anyone would envy," said a colleague, Dr. John Hagen. When work was challenging, she would say: "It's OK, we'll get through it."
After a long, difficult operation that others found emotionally draining, she often would smile and say: "Well, that was fun."
The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. today at St. Francis Xavier (College) Church, 3628 Lindell Boulevard. The body will be cremated, and interment will be private.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, include three daughters, Shannon Cole of St. Louis, and Frances Cole and Perry Cole, both of Glendale; a son, Rusty Cole of Glendale; a brother, Daniel A. Wray Jr. of Grand Isle, La.; and her stepmother, Janice Wray of Baton Rouge.
No comments:
Post a Comment