Fourth mini-stroke raises concern for city’s chief executive
By DAVE SCHULTZ
Mayor John Whicker admits there may be a reason for the citizens of Bluffton to be concerned about his health.
John Whicker
Whicker’s health history includes four mini-strokes, with the latest one being fairly recently. The mayor’s prayer breakfast was held April 13, but instead of Whicker greeting everyone and introducing the guest speaker, it was Rick Elwell, the at-large member of the Bluffton Common Council, who filled in for Whicker. It was announced that the mayor was “under the weather.”
The mayor actually was at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, having an MRI done. That test confirmed that for the fourth time in his life, he had a small stroke.
Whicker is a calm man, one that does not let the struggles of life weigh him down. Yet he understands that these ongoing episodes could be a problem — even if, for the time being, they’re not.
“My cardiologist told me that stress is not my problem,” Whicker said during a conversation in his office last week. He said some small capillaries in his brain were what was causing the problem.
He has had these small strokes even though he’s been on blood thinners, which are supposed to keep such events at bay.
His cardiologist, he said, “has told me that I have to have a better work and life balance — something that my wife (Jolin) has been telling me,” he said.
The problem is, it’s hard for him to stay away. The reason is the same reason he is running for a second term as mayor — there’s a lot going on, and he wants to see the projects through.
Whicker didn’t have an exact timeline for his mini-strokes at the ready, but the first one was several years ago when he was still at Bi-County Services in Buffton. He said there were black spots in front of his eyes. When he went out to talk to staff members, he realized his speech was slurred. He got into his car and drove to Bluffton Regional Medical Center, and he said when he arrived his speech was normal. Still, he remained at the hospital for observation and an MRI was done that determined he had a small stroke. The preliminary diagnosis was that he had had a transient ischemic attack, but the MRI revealed that it had in fact been a stroke.
A while later, there was a second one. He had a physical that includes tests of his upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts, and he was taken off of one type of blood thinner. He had another small stroke before he was placed on another type of blood thinner.
A third one occurred when he was stricken with COVID-19, even though he’d been vaccinated and had all the boosters.
Then came the fourth one, earlier this month.
“Jolin told me that supper was ready,” he said. “I picked up my plate and almost dropped it. And my speech was slurred again.”
His wife called 911 and he was taken by ambulance to BRMC. It would have been a few days before he would have been able to have an MRI at the hospital, so he was taken to Lutheran in Fort Wayne for tests there.
Is there reason for the residents of Bluffton to have concern for their mayor’s health? Whicker says no, and he also says yes.
“Not the way I’m feeling right now,” he said. “Then again, I was feeling this way before the latest one.’
So it is something that he’s thinking about. He thinks about the city projects he’s helping to shepherd — sewer plant improvements, a $13 million upgrade to the city’s electrical grid with a substation on Cherry Street near the animal shelter, creation of a stormwater utility, and other things. That’s why he chose to run again this year, knowing that he’ll be 80 when he takes the oath of office for a second term in January of 2024.
He also wonders who would succeed him as mayor. Scott Mentzer, who is serving as president of the Bluffton Common Council, would be his first choice by Mentzer has a very busy professional life and also has some health concerns of his own. He likes Mentzer because he has had some experience as an executive, something other council member haven’t had.
“If something were to happen to me, it would be up to the Republican caucus to decide who would be the next mayor,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with that. Who would that be?”
daves@news-banner.com
