As rain poured outside a horse barn Sherry Ware talked about what seems an odd mix of job skills, "It's quite an adrenaline rush, there's a lot going you know. If the watch the news you know there's a lot going on at this hospital. "
Ware works in the emergency room of Community Regional Medical Center, a level one trauma center in Fresno. Long shifts in stretches of days are daunting, tense but rewarding work.
So is herding cattle, riding her horse Smokey and leaving the trauma behind. Ware is also a day jobber for ranchers like Vince Genco, "Sherry's a pretty good hand and so when she's available, when she's not working nights - all nights at the hospital, she comes and helps us."
Vince Genco likes having a hand with emergency skills in case of an accident or when a bull turns ugly. Sherry smiled when we told her what he said, "I think it's more of a security blanket, I really think they do pretty good without me. But I'm flattered.
Ware grew up wanting to be a cowgirl and first trained in animal husbandry. A nursing degree came later. But horses are her touch stone to happiness. It's easy to see when she's grooming her horse, "How you doin' Smoke? Hummm?"
They are a team, she and the horse she raised from birth, "When he came out he was such a pretty baby. Then he turned into Dennis the Menace."
Make no mistake, Ware's nursing career shares an equal but different place in her heart, "I feel like I've been able to perform well at the hospital and give it my all because on my days off I'm in a completely different world."
A world not unlike a Trauma Center where we trust those who treat the sick and injured.
