Senior Profile: Darby Gunter’s passion for helping others has led to a career path full of selflessness

Five-year-old Darby Gunter’s monthly visits to her great-grandma’s nursing home always had her leaving with a heavy heart — it was sad to see those who never received visitors. But she always talked to the other residents like they were her best friends, asking about their families and listening to stories about which birds visited the garden. Darby was so interested in their lives, she never had the chance to talk about hers.  

Darby, a senior now, puts others before herself. She always has.  

So when making a decision about her future, she asked herself, “In what career would I be able to help the most people and feel fulfilled from my work when looking back at age 60?”  

The answer suddenly became clear — a nurse.  

Darby comes from a family of heroines, her mother having been an on-call sexual assault nurse for Children’s Mercy, her grandmother filling the void of an absent father and her great-grandmother being a nurse during World War II.  

“I really want to be a nurse because a lot of people don’t care about the people who need medical help,” Darby said. “They’re pushed aside by society and if I could learn one thing from my grandma, my great-grandma and my mom, it’s that you are making such a difference by being next to that person and trying to take care of them.”  

Darby knows nursing school isn’t cheap. After getting advice from a friend’s older brother, she learned that joining the National Guard — reserve troops for the United States Armed Forces — would cover all college expenses. On top of that, it serves as yet another way for her to help others. 

Even with Darby’s departure for Fort Sill scheduled for late May, she’s not nervous — just excited. Amidst her adventurous excitement, she’s not oblivious to the mental and physical challenges that come with being in the army. She’s witnessed the shell shock firsthand from her grandfather who served as a combat medic and marine in Vietnam. But he and the rest of her family support her decision, and Darby finds his service inspiring. 

Anywhere people need help is where Darby wants to be. She’s volunteered at Harvesters since her kindergarten Girl Scout troop’s first visit. During the coronavirus outbreak, Darby made sack lunches to give to the homeless, along with any spare change on her. She leads by example — something she’s learned from the powerful and selfless women around her. 

“They’ve shown me how important it is to be strong even if no one else can be strong with you,” Darby said. 

After finishing her commitment to the National Guard and getting her master’s in nursing, Darby hopes to hold a leadership position for Doctors Without Borders or UNICEF. She believes she can make an even bigger difference for the starved and disease-ridden third world countries.  

“You can do so much with the way you take care of people, the way you talk to people,” Darby said. “You can change a person’s perspective by just being kind and helping them and I feel like I could help a lot of people.”