Homeless woman’s family says two Des Moines police officers saved her life
By KCCI Staff
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — A Des Moines woman wandering the streets and addicted to drugs, now has a fresh start.
Her family says two Des Moines police officers saved her life.
Officers found Shannon Bartel wandering along Dean Avenue on Nov. 12. She was homeless and high on drugs. Confused and incoherent, Bartel gave officers a random address where she wanted to be dropped off.
Instead of dropping her off, Des Moines senior police Officers Andy Long and Blake Wilkinson spent some time tracking down Bartel’s sister.
“Our family has been broken for quite some time and that moment just shattered me,” said Heather Nell.
Nell recounts that phone call as a moment that changed her life. She says she was touched that the officers spent time finding her so they could help her sister.
“There is a difference between doing your job and caring about doing your job right. So what really touched me was that officer could have just left her where she said she wanted to go, but he didn’t,” Nell said.
Nell wrote a heartfelt thank you to the officers on social media. It’s been viewed by thousands of people.
“I just kind of started writing out thank you and it turned into a lot more than I realized,” Nell said. “It takes a village. If we don’t take the time to acknowledge people and thank them, then you don’t know the village is working.”
Nell says her sister used to be a home nurse who loved taking care of her patients. She says an addiction to painkillers caused Bartel to spiral to a dark place and even live in a dumpster.
“I have gone and just sat so many hours looking at the dumpster wondering and waiting will she come back. And if she does what would I do? What can I do?” Nell said.
Bartel is now receiving care at MercyOne Medical Center and on the road to recovery. Nell hopes sharing her family’s vulnerable story, and the act of kindness that followed, will help someone else on a downward spiral.
“There is a really dark stigma on homelessness and drug addiction in particular. Nobody wakes up and says I’m going to be an addict today. It creeps up on a person. It attacks a family and it destroys that family. Every person you see out there belongs to somebody. Somebody loves them, and they were somebody before that addiction took over their life,” Nell said.
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