A ‘thank you’ from the heart

Woman o ers gratitude to those who saved her life at courthouse

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Shirley Bennett was going through the jury duty selection process at the Arapahoe County Courthouse when o cials called a recess. She and other potential jurors walked into the hallway.

“I remember walking outside (of the courtroom) and sitting on a bench,” Bennett said. “And I re- member waking up four days later.”

Between the moments she remembers, Bennett, who is 69, went into cardiac arrest. anks to the rapid response of dozens of court deputies and other bystanders on scene that day, she is alive to tell the story.

On March 9, Bennett returned to the courthouse to express her gratitude to the rst responders who saved her life in February by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

“I don’t know you all one by one or name by name, but I love you and appreciate you,” she said.

“You’re in my prayers and you’re in my thoughts. I know we hear the prayers and thoughts thing so much with all the tragedy and things that happen. But I mean that from my heart — no pun intended — that I love you, I appreciate you.”

First responders

At the event, South Metro Fire Rescue recognized 19 Arapahoe County law enforcement o cers for their e orts in helping save Bennett’s life.

Sgt. Robert Chase, one of the rst people to arrive on the scene of the emergency, was among those recognized.

“It was clear that Shirley was e ballot item started to take shape when a group of residents felt the city ignored their petition and votes regarding the rezoning of the Aspen Grove shopping center for new housing last year.

Speci cally, the measure would have reduced the signature threshold needed for citizen petitions that aim to add new laws or challenge ordinances. e measure would also have shortened the timeline for when special elections based on those petitions must be held.

John Marchetti, who is part of REVision Littleton, a group that led the ballot 300 petitioning e orts, said the measure came up as an e ort to “increase (citizens’) ability to be heard by city council.”

Opponents of the measure expressed concern that the measure would do the opposite, giving special interest groups an “outsize say” in the city while forcing expensive special elections that tend to have low voter turnout.