Nursing Student Secure at Butler Despite Losing Home to Fire

Written by Caleb Sanderson

In early February, LPN Advanced Standing student Hayley Campbell-Zirkel lost her El Dorado home and belongings to a fire. With classes the very next day and being newly displaced, Hayley was concerned about both home and school. Thanks to the aid of Butler Nursing faculty Janet Doremus and others, Hayley now feels more secure in both.  

On a day of studying and family time, Hayley’s life was disrupted as soon as her mom opened their attached garage door to a blazing fire. Faced with an emergency, Hayley’s nursing instincts kicked in to calmly escort her mom and brother to safety and call 911.

“I was really scared, but I’m the kind of person who works pretty good under pressure and I think that’s why nursing works for me,” Hayley, a current night-shift LPN, noted.

By chance, one of their neighbors is a college employee who activated an alert system on Hayley’s behalf that reached Nursing faculty. Even though Doremus had never even met Hayley, she reached out to her next-semester student with plans in motion to help.  

Thirty years ago, Doremus and her husband lost their Colorado home and most of its contents. Through an unfortunate event, they benefited from community aid. Doremus and her husband rallied help to support Hayley and her family, similarly to the help they received.  

Hayley was determined to continue her degree, no matter what clothes she wore or materials she could no longer bring. Professor Katelyn Sherman Voge encouraged her to come to class without worry. To her pleasant surprise, Hayley’s professor had new scrubs patched with the Butler Nursing logo and a coat waiting for her before class - another worry cleared from her plate.

“The Butler School of Nursing faculty gave their resources to supply her with new scrubs, new clothes and other necessities,” the adjunct faculty member said. “The Pickleball Pickelettes at the Andover YMCA also responded to her need...some [are] retired nurses who made sure she had supplies to finish her school term.” The East Wichita Life Church provided clothes and other items for the family.

“Janet and Jim have been really great. She is empathetic to the situation,” Hayley expressed. “For having gone through the same experience, she is there if I need somebody to talk to, and she gets it.”

“I helped because that's what we should do when someone is hurting,” Doremus said. “We come along beside them and give them support and encouragement to let them know that they are not in this alone.”

Hayley is confident she can successfully continue her Butler schooling, despite the upheaval her family experienced less than two weeks after classes started. “The Nursing people here have been so great,” Hayley said. She noted how warm, approachable and knowledgeable her Butler teachers are.

With hopes of becoming a similarly warm and wise nurse, Hayley also considers giving community help to those affected by fires once she has her footing.