Bowling Green community talks about Dr. Shadowen’s legacy
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - The Bowling Green community has suffered a great loss with the passing of community leader and Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Rebecca Shadowen. She passed away over the weekend after a four-month battle with COVID-19.
Dr. Shadowen was an integral member of the Warren County Coronavirus Taskforce. She touched the lives of many patients in her 30 years at The Medical Center’s Bowling Green campus, including one patient who says Dr. Shadowen saved her life.
“I’d had 6 or 7 doctors come in there and nobody knew what was going on. And they started telling [Dr. Shadowen] what was going on, and within 15 minutes, she was like stop the medication. You’re going to kill her. She has sulfa poisoning," recalls Shadowen’s former patient Amy Walters.
Walters says Dr. Shadowen flew in at 2 a.m. to treat her. In her words, it was like Dr. Shadowen was her angel sent from God.
“I had been in there a week just deathly sick. I thought I was going to die, and I went home the next day," Walters continues, "I will never forget her and forget what she did for me because she really did—with her and god—she saved my life. I feel like she was just an angel sent.”
As a part of the Warren County Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Shadowen was highly involved in the community’s efforts against COVID-19.
“She was continuing to read everything that she could. She was continuing to communicate with other recognized infectious disease leaders across the country, doing everything she could to bring to the forefront locally all the information we needed," says Task Force member, Dennis Chaney.
He says, even from her hospital bed, she was calling in to make sure the Task Force was protecting the community to the highest degree. In honor of her, Chaney says he is confident the Task Force will commit to doing their best to protect against COVID-19.
“She’s still speaking that drive into us, and I think that that’s her legacy. I think her pursuit of excellence in all things—she just instilled that in us.”
There will be a walk-through visitation from 4:00 to 9:00 PM Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at the J.C. Kirby and Son Lovers Lane Chapel and a private funeral service for family will be 1:00 PM Thursday, September 17 with burial to follow in Bowling Green Gardens. The family request that all attendees wear mask and maintain social distancing to avoid the further spread of COVID-19.
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