Soldier Died of Preventable Rabies

Mother wants to know why series of shots allegedly wasn't completed.

The California mother of a soldier who died from rabies wants the Army to explain why her son died of such a preventable disease.

Spc. Kevin Shumaker was bitten in January by a stray dog while breaking up a dog fight at a remote Afghanistan base.

Eight months later, the 24-year-old Livermore soldier died from rabies in a New York hospital near Fort Drum.

Shumaker told his parents he was treated for rabies at the base, but said the series of injections was not completed.

His mother, Elaine Taylor of Castro Valley, tells the Contra Costa Times that she wants answers, saying her son would be alive if he was given proper treatment. She questions whether her son got any rabies injections.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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