MedicAlert's inspiration dies at 65

Turlock Journal
Laura Cook
October 16, 2004

Everything happens for a reason.

Linda Collins Maurer, who died of breast cancer Wednesday, had an allergy that is reason for MedicAlert’s existence.

She nearly died when she was 14 because of the reaction her body had to a drop of medicine used in a tetanus shot. Her body went into shock and swelled up. Her family knew they had to have a way to inform emergency personnel of her allergy.

“My grandparents would pin a note on the inside of her jacket or have her wear a plastic bracelet,” Paul Maurer, Linda Maurer’s son, said.

When Linda was going to leave for Stanford University in 1956, her family wanted her to have a permanent means of protection.

She once said, “My dad thought of a dog tag or tattoo to protect me, but I convinced him to make a bracelet.”

Her dad, Dr. Marion Collins, came up with the idea to start an emergency medical identification system. The MedicAlert emblem was created to protect people with specific medical conditions or allergies in emergency situations.

The non-profit organization started in the Collins’ home on Sierra Drive in Turlock. It was a slow process of publication for four years. In 1960, an article titled “The Bracelet That Saves Lives” in This Week Magazine helped MedicAlert expand at a rapid rate.

“Two days after the article, the mail man delivered 10,000 letters to my grandparent’s doorstep,” Paul Maurer said.

MedicAlert now serves over 4 million people world wide. Nurses are available 24 hours a day to give out medical information. The phone number is written on the bracelet along with the condition or allergies. The international headquarters is on the corner of Colorado Avenue and Tuolumne Road.

“She left a legacy that our lifesaving mission is as vital today as when it first began,” Paul Kortschak, the President and Chief Executive Officer of MedicAlert, said.

Linda Maurer lived in New York after attending Stanford. She also lived in Menlo Park and Mountain View before bringing her family to Turlock in 1970. After battling breast cancer for 20-years, she died at her Turlock home with family at her side. They will miss an inspiring role model.

“She was an inspiration to me and to a lot of people with they way she persevered for so many years with cancer and the values that she instilled in me and my sisters,” Paul Maurer said. “Things like responsibility and setting high standards for yourself and being willing to work for them. In that regard, she definitely led by example.”

Aside from being a mother, she was an avid golfer. As an amateur, she was a two-time California Women’s Golf Association champion and a six-time Northern California Golf Association champion. She also placed 27th in the 1964 U.S. Open. She turned professional in 1981 and taught golf lessons. As a professional, she won the Ladies Professional Golf Association Senior Teaching Division National Championships twice.

Linda Maurer is survived by two brothers, a sister, three children, and two grandchildren.

“She was very loving and supportive, and she was funny. She was a funny person,” Paul Maurer said.