ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090098 SECTION: DISCOVER ROANOKE VALLEY PAGE: 16 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: KEVIN KITTERIDGE STAFF WRITER
Talk about making the valley go. Lisa Schnepf gives it fuel.
Schnepf works at Hardee's restaurant on Hershberger Road - where she serves up each morning more bacon, egg and cheese biscuits than she can count.
And coffee. "Lots of coffee," Schnepf said.
Schnepf works the early shift, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Her favorite part of the job, she said, is dealing with the public. Yet few who see her face at the drive-through window have any idea what she overcame to get there.
For seven years, Schnepf suffered from panic attacks so severe she seldom left her apartment.
Whenever she did venture into the open air, Schnepf said, her heart began to race and she believed she was going to die.
"You fear everything," she explained of the attacks. "It's just a real traumatic experience. I very rarely left my home, unless it was with my husband. I never drove. I never took my kids anywhere."
The 32-year-old mother has a girl, Jacqui, 3, and a boy, Matthew, 8.
Her husband, a U.S. Navy recruiter, finally told her to get help or their marriage was doomed, Schnepf said. Therapy at Lewis-Gale Clinic - not to mention prayer - worked wonders.
Still, getting a job was a tremendous step.
"The night before I started, I didn't sleep at all," Schnepf said. "I was scared to death."
Judy Wood, general manager at Hardee's, said Schnepf told her about the panic attacks when she interviewed. "I told her, `Well, hon, you come to work here, you won't have time.'''
Wood called Schnepf "an inspiration to us. ... She's one of the sweetest people you'd ever want to know." She also said giving Schnepf more responsibility is being discussed.
"I think she's getting over her problem," Wood said.
"I really do enjoy my job," Schnepf said. "I think it's a good service to the people."
Schnepf, who was a college student in Rhode Island when the panic attacks began, now hopes to finish school and become a teacher.
Meanwhile, she savors her job, her family and - at last - the world she lives in. Recovering from her illness "kind of opened up a new world for me. I didn't know how much was out there - or how fun it could be," Schnepf said.
Though she does have one more goal.
"I haven't tried to go downtown yet," Schnepf admitted. "But I'm sure I'll get there."
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF For years Lisa Schnepf suffered fromby CNBpanic attacks so severe she seldom ventured outside her home.
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