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Ready to sing / P. 18
Gas for growth / P. 3
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS...................... 3 Bucks pour into some Mesa Council candidates' coffers.
BUSINESS............. 2 2 Mesa business captures Mexico bar atmosphere.
JAN D'ATRI........... 3 2 Try these carrot cake cupcakes for a change. COMMUNITY................................. 18 BUSINESS....................................... 22 OPINION......................................... 25 SPORTS........................................... 28 GET OUT......................................... 31 CLASSIFIED.................................... 34 Zone 2
Sunday, April 24, 2022
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
Mesa hospital compounded grief, parents say BY ALEX GALLAGHER Tribune Staff Writer
A
s Wilfredo and Grace Gumaru prayed for a miracle that would save their 26-year-old daughter’s life two weeks ago, the Scottsdale couple also encountered an unlikely battle with the hospital to keep her alive. On Easter morning, Micah Gumaru, 26, a medical student at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences and a 2018 Arizona State University undergraduate, passed away – the victim of a severe
asthma attack nine days earlier that had left her without oxygen for 15 minutes. As she lay in a coma, her parents waged what they called a frustrating – and at times insulting – fight with BannerHeath over a doctor’s decision to remove her from life support. That battle caught the attention of state Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, who joined protestors outside Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa on April 15 and the Gumarus’ anguished pleas to hospital officials. Services were scheduled to be held yesterday, April 23, for Micah, who had graduated with a degree in global health and a minor
Mesa lawmaker to get ‘Profiles in Courage’ award BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services
H
ouse Speaker Rusty Bowers will be one of five individuals honored with a John F. Kennedy "Profiles in Courage" award. Bowers, who drew national attention for refusing to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential race, is one of five people the organization is recognizing under this year’s theme of "Defending Democracy." ‘Others range from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Sen. Liz Cheney to Wan-
da Moss, an election worker in Fulton County, Ga. who received death threats after being accused of processing fake ballots for Joe Biden. Bowers said he’s honored to be in such company, stressing that all he did was honor the will of voters. But the Republican lawmaker from Mesa also told Capitol Media Services that the honor actually comes with political baggage as he attempts to move to the Senate, where he faces a GOP primary battle with former state Sen. David Farnsworth.
in anthropology and was studying to be a physician. And while her parents cope with their heartbreak, they also are coping with their anger over their treatment by some Banner staff, including a doctor who allegedly mocked their Christian faith by telling them if the plug was pulled on Micah’s respirator, she might rise from the dead on Easter Sunday.
Days of agony
The parents’ ordeal began on April 8, when
see MICAH page 14
see BOWERS page 16 House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, has been tapped as a recipient of the prestigious Profiles in Courage Award. (Capitol Media Services)
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