Dr. Paul Shurnas

On July 3, 2010 a life was taken far too young and far too soon. Dr. Paul Shurnas was killed in a one car accident near his home in Columbia, MO. I worked for Dr. Shurnas, who was a foot/ankle orthopedic surgeon at Columbia Ortho Group, as his Secretary/Office Manager from December 2004- September 2006.  I left his practice to become full time in my own business. I was looking through my pictures trying to find the picture of myself, Dr. Shurnas and Amy Sanders (his PA) and found this one. It reminds me of the crazy way he would make you laugh and how full of it he was. He had passion for helping people and wanted to make them better. He was an excellant surgeon and was really good with his patients. He would have patients drive up from Mountain Home, Arkansas (where he practiced before coming to Columbia, MO) to see him because not only did they trust him, they built a friendship with him. I saw him for the first time in 4 years in Westlakes about 3 weeks ago. We spoke but we were both in a hurry. You know it's a funny thing how you have someone in your life that pushes you to become better.... well without going into great detail a comment that he told me over and over again has pushed me to become better. Until today I always felt I had to prove myself to him in the sense that I didn't have to have a college education to be successful.... yet I belive that he may have pushed me to test myself.... did I have it in me to be the best I could be? This is something I will never know but something that I think about all the time. My heart goes out to his wife, Jennifer, and their 3 children. Rest in peace Dr. Shurnas.....