UAW employee listed in critical condition after job-related accident

A longtime employee of the UAW Family Education Center at Black Lake involved in an on-the-job accident November 2 remains hospitalized in Flint.

Bob Shorkey, 53, is in the Intensive Care Unit at Hurley Medical Center.

Shorkey, who was listed in critical condition, has second and third degree burns, as well as internal burns, and remains in an induced coma, according to his wife of 27 years, Patricia. Their wedding anniversary is Saturday.

Patricia Shorkey has been in Flint since her husband was airlifted from Cheboygan.

Bob had surgery on his arm and hip Monday and was fighting an infection, she said.

Patricia is not completely sure what happened to her husband in the accident.

BOB SHORKEY has been an employee of the UAW Family Education Center since 1977. She has been told he had been working with an enclosed leaf blower at 7:40 a.m. when the vehicle overturned.

Gasoline inside the driver?s compartment ignited. Shorkey became fully engulfed in flames and he had to force his way out, Patricia said.

Calls to the UAW Center for more information were not returned to The Outlook.

Bob was transported to Cheboygan Memorial Hospital, and the

n transported by plane to Bishop Airport in Flint.

Patricia said she has not talked to her husband since before the accident. She is allowed to visit him every other hour for 10 minutes.

The early prognosis was that he might be on a ventilator for two weeks, but the infection may require a longer hospital stay. ?It could be a while,? Patricia said via the telephone from the hospital. Bob also suffered an injury to his eye that may require plastic surgery.

Shorkey is the father of two daughters, Katherine, 23, and Christine, 21. He also serves as a volunteer firefighter in Rogers City.

For anyone interested in sending Bob a get-well card the address to the hospital is: Hurley Medical Center, One Hurley Plaza Burn Center, Room 532 Shorkey, Flint, Michigan 48502.

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