by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
After two days without sleep, Dean Fleigle sounded tired but hugely relieved when asked how his son is doing.
“He’s doing well,” he said. “Really well, considering. We thought he was going to die.”
Fleigle’s son and only child is 16-year-old Daniel Fleigle, who fell from the old Sartell bridge while walking across it with five other youths on June 15. Fleigle had grabbed a live wire, which gave him a shock, causing him to fall 30 feet to the bridge’s platform.
The Sauk Rapids-Rice High School junior is now in intensive care at Hennepin County Medical Center, listed in critical condition but improving day by day, his father noted.
“There have been so many prayers,” his father told the Newsleader in a June 20 interview. “The Lord is watching over him.”
On the morning of the interview, Fleigle was at his home in Sauk Rapids Township, just south of Sartell. His wife, Shelly, was with her injured son as he was scheduled to have a magnetic-resonance imaging procedure.
Fleigle, breathing a sigh of gratitude and relief, told about how days after the accident, a nurse had asked Daniel to wiggle his fingers, which he did. Then she asked him to wiggle his toes, which he managed to do.
“When she moved her hands in front of his face, he followed them with his eyes,” Fleigle said. “So there appears to be no brain damage.”
His son cannot talk yet, partly because there is a tube down his throat. The injuries are severe: head trauma, broken clavicle, broken ribs, punctured lung and a thoracic fracture of his back, which fortunately did not affect his spine.
This is what happened, according to a police report and information on a Daniel Fleigle contribution website:
Fleigle and five friends were crossing the old Sartell bridge that spans the Mississippi River between the bank of the river behind River Boat Depot and the east side of the river near the former paper mill. At one point, Fleigle apparently felt he was about to fall and grabbed a wire that happened to be a live electric wire. The shock sent him falling 30 feet onto the bridge platform.
One of the other boys immediately called 911, and the dispatcher gave instructions on how to perform CPR. Rescuers arrived and then proceeded to perform more CPR because Fleigle had gone into cardiac arrest. After several attempts, a pulse could be felt again.
Fleigle described his son as a bright kid who is very Christian. However, like most teenagers, he sometimes would do something risky, believing himself indestructible.
“I always gave him advice never to follow other kids if they’re doing something wrong,” Fleigle said. “But kids influence one another. I’ve warned him never to go on that bridge. But sometimes it’s ‘monkey see, monkey do.’ They have to learn from their mistakes.”
Daniel played football and baseball in high school. He enjoys the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing.
Daniel’s aunt has started a webpage where people can contribute to the Fleigles to defray medical-related costs. To view the site and to contribute, go to www.gofundme.com/2artv94c.
Those who want to send Daniel Fleigle a get-well card can send one to: Daniel Fleigle, in care of Dean Fleigle, 4930 NE River Road, Sauk Rapids, Minn. 56379.
Daniel Fleigle
Parents Dean and Shelly Fleigle comfort their son, Daniel, who has been hooked up with tubes, tubes and more tubes at Hennepin County Medical Center. His father said he is recovering surprisingly well after a very nasty 30-foot fall from the old Sartell bridge.
This is a photo of Daniel Fleigle when he was a little boy, the only son of Dean and Shelly Fleigle, also pictured.
This is the old Sartell bridge from which Daniel Fleigle fell 30 feet to the bridge’s platform after touching a live wire.
