Thursday, September 20, 2001

Former religion student remains in ICU after shooting
Erin LaMourie
Staff Reporter

Former TCU student Kimberly Whalin is still in intensive care and without health insurance after she was shot in the head by her ex-boyfriend Sept. 6, said her mother, Alice Whalin.

Tammi Vandal, a friend of Kimberly Whalin’s, said Kimberly Whalin is at Harris Methodist Hospital in downtown Fort Worth.

Alice Whalin said the extent of brain damage is unknown, but her daughter has been able to communicate through sign language and can acknowledge by shaking her head.

She also said she does not know how much the medical expenses will be, but within the first 24 hours, the expenses were about $47,000. Vandal, a banker at Wells Fargo Bank, said she decided to support her friend by starting a fund to help raise money for Kimberly Whalin’s medical expenses.

“After this happened I felt very helpless,” Vandal said. “Being a banker, I thought the best thing I could do was try to get contributions together for her through this fund.”

Vandal said the fund is set up in Kimberly Whalin’s name and a deposit can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank.

Joel Penrod, a friend of Kimberly Whalin and senior religion and philosophy major, said Whalin was taking a temporary break from classes to earn money for tuition working as an admitting clerk at Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas.

He said her goal is to return to TCU to finish her religion major and eventually become a religion professor at TCU.

According to a Fort Worth Police Department report, Whalin was shot in what appeared to be an attempted murder-suicide by Gerardo De Alvarado in his apartment building at 9109 Windrush Drive.

Penrod said he went to De Alvarado’s apartment because he had not heard from Kimberly Whalin in three days and had received a call from her mother asking if he knew where she was.

Penrod said he arrived at the apartment at about 10:50 p.m. and through the sliding-glass door in the back of the apartment saw Whalin lying on the floor.

Penrod said he went around to the front of the apartment, kicked open the steel door, and found her still breathing. He said he did not notice De Alvarado’s dead body until Penrod was already on the phone with the police.

Penrod said the police arrived about four minutes later and said his last words to Kimberly Whalin as she left in the ambulance were “I love you.”

Shana Pereira, Kimberly Whalin’s roommate, heard about the incident from Penrod early the next morning and said her first reaction was disbelief.

Whalin and De Alvarado’s relationship ended two months earlier and Whalin had not spoken to him since then, Pereira said. De Alvarado contacted Whalin because he said he wanted to apologize before he moved to Houston, Pereira said.

Penrod said Whalin’s quick arrival at the hospital and rapid recovery where a miracle.

“Kimberly Whalin is amazing,” Penrod said. “She was writing a note by the third day (in the hospital) and she was using sign language. She started signing my name over and over again and signing ‘I love you.’”

Alice Whalin said when she heard the news about her daughter, her first reaction was to fall on her knees and pray. She said she has stayed in the hospital with her daughter every day and said she thanks God for her recovery.

Kimberly Whalin cannot have visitors, but many people have called or sent cards saying she has made a difference in their lives, Alice Whalin said. She said the first night in the hospital about 150 friends and family came to pray for her, and the next day another 100 came.

Erin LaMourie
e.m.lamourie@student.tcu.edu