Jennifer Schuerman, the daughter of Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley's secretary, will appear on the Dr. Drew "Lifechangers" Show today to talk about her recovery after a stroke.
Schuerman was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas when an undiagnosed hole in her heart allowed a blood clot to pass through to her carotid artery, causing a massive stroke.
"It happened right in front of me," says Susan Schuerman, who appears on the show today at 3 p.m. with her daughter. "I held her as literally she died. They told me she wasn't going to live."
The younger Schuerman is 28 now and faces a "lifetime of recovery," says her mom. But Jennifer has learned to cope with her disability and is finishing up her bachelor's degree at Arizona State University.
On the Dr. Drew show, (LCTV, Cox Channel 6), which was recorded two months ago, Jennifer Schuerman receives the gift of an electrical-impulse machine designed to help her move one of her arms.
Susan Schuerman, a 24-year county employee, is one of a group of former
and current county officials suing the county, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and
former County Attorney Andrew Thomas because of the lawmen's
now-discredited crusade against them. Following a 118-count indictment
of her boss, Stapley, on charges related to omitted information on the
elected official's financial disclosure statements, (all the charges
were later dropped), Arpaio's ethically challenged deputies targeted Schuerman with accusations that she used county resources to help run Stapley's private businesses.
No evidence tied her to any crime, and charges were never filed.
Arpaio, though, was later revealed to have abused county resources in a
major way, misspending about $100 million from a fund that was supposed
to be reserved for jail needs. Thomas, meanwhile, faces possible
disbarment.
