By Tim Ruzek
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN
Ray Tucker returned to the Mower County Board on Tuesday, two months after suffering a brain aneurysm.
Tucker, who represents District 2, wasn’t expected to return to the board for a while, but he said he felt good enough to come back with the help of someone who drove him from his home in Dexter to the Mower County courthouse in Austin.
"Once you start to feel a little better you want to get back to doing stuff," Tucker, 57, said after the meeting.
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Tucker is still undergoing therapy and is still missing some hair from where it was shaved for emergency treatment.
Tucker became unresponsive at his house on Feb. 22 and was flown by helicopter to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester. He was listed in serious condition for about two weeks. He was released from the hospital about two weeks ago.
Such an experience "opens your eyes a little bit," Tucker said, then joked that one of the lingering effects of his illness is trouble opening one of his eyes. "My doctors feel that I’ll regain everything I had before the aneurysm."
Tucker is a self-employed land surveyor and has represented District 2 since 1997. The district covers 12 townships in eastern Mower County. He was re-elected to a fourth term in November.
Tucker said he’s been trying to get back to work, too, but "it’s pretty difficult to put in a full day."
County board Chairman Dave Tollefson has also been absent from recent meetings, having undergone a planned surgery in mid-March. Tollefson is expected to return to board work this month or in May, said County Coordinator Craig Oscarson.
The absences mean the Mower County Board has been operating with only three of its five members for about a month.
