Ashley walked into the nurse’s office with an injured ankle after walking down the stairs that morning. Mary Lewis, the school nurse at Walter J. Meyer School immediately attended to the injury. She examined the ankle and put pressure on different spots, making sure there was no inflammation or a serious injury. After a few minutes of discussing the painful areas, Lewis simply sent Ashley off with an ice pack and advised her to be careful.

This is a typical day for Lewis, 61, who works at both the elementary and high school in Tombstone and spends her mornings at the lower school and the afternoons at the high school. She travels between the schools for emergencies.

Although Lewis has never had to deal with anything life-threatening since she started in August 2006, she has had to send students to the emergency room. The most common emergency is asthma attacks, or when students fall and hurt themselves.

“I wanted to be a nurse my whole life,” Lewis said, as she sat at her desk in a back room of the elementary school. “I don’t remember exactly when I realized it, but it was always something I wanted to do.”

Lewis remembers one occasion when she was young that encouraged her to become a nurse.

“When I was in third grade, I wanted to be a nurse so I could visit kids and read their comic books,” Lewis said. “There was never anything else I wanted to be.”

Lewis was born in Peoria Ill., where she lived with her parents. Neither parent was involved in any type of health profession. At age 19, she moved to Chicago, where she attended nursing school at the University of Illinios. After graduating, Lewis stayed in Chicago where she taught nursing and certified nursing assistant classes.

For 40 years, Lewis has been helping both young and old. She spent 18 and a half years working with Alzheimer’s patients in Chicago, and when she moved to Sierra Vista, her current home, she continued to work with Alzheimer patients at the Sierra Vista Hospital.

“My husband and I had been talking about moving to a warmer climate,” Lewis said. “We quit our jobs, sold the house, hopped in an RV and drove to the Southwest” in 2004.

“When we came here, we fell in love with the place, ” Lewis said. “I love driving to work every morning. The scenery is beautiful.”

With no health care professional in Tombstone, teachers will often come to Lewis for headaches or congestion. Lewis said she feels she has a great relationship with both the students and teachers.

“I have had teachers come to me for everything from checking their blood pressure to spider bites, ”Lewis said. “Without a doctor or hospital in town, a lot of people feel comfortable coming to me and I am happy to help.”

Donovan Working, a sixth grade teacher at Walter J. Meyer, said that Lewis is a great friend.

“It feels like I have known her for 27 years. I like to think we are pretty close,” said Working, who has known Lewis for three years. “I call her up for Minnesota Viking, Chicago Bears games.”

Lewis, an Illinois Native, is a Bears fan, while Working’s family are Vikings fans. Working placed a Vikings poster on Lewis’s computer as a joke.

“We have fun,” Working said. “Sometimes I send kids down to the nurse just to mess with her.”

Kath Villa, principal at Walter J. Meyer, said she admires the extra work Lewis does for the school.

“She is great. She does all kinds of different things,” Villa said. “Every year she does something extra to help the kids and the community.”

Lewis was offered the nursing job in the Tombstone School District in 2005. Due to a drop in pay from her nursing job at Sierra Vista, Lewis felt she could not afford to take the job. When Lewis saw another ad a year later for the same position, she jumped at the opportunity.

“When I saw the ad for the second time, I thought I was meant to do this job,” Lewis said. “I have not regretted it for one minute. It is the best job I have ever had.”

After Lewis worked with the younger children, she realized how worn out she was from working with Alzheimer patients.

“I wanted to work with people at the beginning of their lives,” Lewis said. “My favorite part is being able to use my skills to make a difference. I love being a school nurse. I love working with young kids and older kids. I love being at both schools because you get to see the continuum and changes.”

Last year, Lewis put together a health fair involving people in the community. The fair was held at the elementary school, and many health professionals were there to help out. People from the Lung association did pulmonary function tests, other health professionals took blood pressure and state police did drunken driving information sessions. Lewis plans to have the fair again this year.

Lewis felt it was unsuccessful the first time because she put the fair on all by herself. With the help of the community and schools this year, Lewis feels the health fair will be a huge success.

“Last year was not so successful. This year I plan on having better advertising,” Lewis said. “I think it is a good learning experience.”

Lewis also serves as the anti-bullying coordinator. At the schools she puts together presentations for the sixth grade students encouraging anti-bullying.

Arizona and the Southwest are full of attractions that Lewis and her husband like to take part in. In her spare time, Lewis likes to travel. The two enjoy camping, hiking and biking all over the state. Lewis also enjoys crafting and scrapbooking.

The two also enjoy traveling to the Pacific North West. Lewis’s two daughters, Rebecca, 26, and Heather, 28, live in San Francisco, Calif., where she often travels to visit with them.

“The kids love her, everyone loves her,” Working said. “If school nurse was in the dictionary, her picture should be there.”