By Andrew Ba Tran
Sun-Sentinel
DAVIE, Fla. — He was so close.
Ray Adkins, 77, got up early, waited patiently in line for 90 minutes and had just handed his voter registration card to the volunteer behind the verification machine. “And then I opened my eyes and realized I was on the floor,” he said.
Adkins had passed out just yards from the voting booth. Local officials, Florida Highway Patrol officers and paramedics from Davie Fire-Rescue helped prop him up. They consulted Adkins’ doctor and he recommended Adkins head to the hospital.
But the retired schoolteacher said he couldn’t go until he had voted. So he did, with his back on a gurney and paramedics by his side. “Voting is an important civic duty,” Adkins said later as he recuperated from low blood pressure.