*Photo above is a stock image. This is not the woman described in the article below.
We love when there's a happy ending to an unfortunate story. This happy ending involves two Iowa police officers saving the life of a woman in need.
According to KCCI, Shannon Bartel was wandering the streets in Des Moines before Thanksgiving on November 12. She was homeless and walking along Dean Avenue high on drugs. When senior officers Andy Long and Blake Wilkinson came upon Bartel to see what was going on, she was confused and incoherent. She even gave them a "random address where she wanted to be dropped off." Rather than these officers taking her there and calling it a day, they decided to go above and beyond the help Bartel.
Long and Wilkinson took the time to track down Bartel's family. They found her sister, Heather Nell, who was touched that the officers cared enough and took the time to do that. Bartel wasn't always in the condition that the officers found her. In fact, Nell says that "her sister used to be a home nurse who loved taking care of her patients." Nell told KCCI that Bartel became addicted to painkillers, which caused her to spiral so much that she even lived in a dumpster.
Where is Bartel now? According to KCCI, she is thankfully "receiving care at MercyOne Medical Center and on the road to recovery." Be kind, you never what someone is going through.