Accident causes severe damage to Eddy County woman's leg

On Monday, Oct. 17, tragedy struck on a rural farm east of New Rockford, leaving one Eddy County resident severely wounded and in a fight to save her leg.

After weeks of surgeries and struggle, Sharon Ludwig now finds herself in Missouri Slope, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Bismarck, N.D., where she's been recovering from her second surgery stemming from a tragic skid steer accident.

The injury occurred while Sharon and her husband, Jim, were removing pit run gravel from a township road. The gravel had been placed there mistakenly by Columbia Township officials rather than Class 5 aggregate.

"My husband was using a skid steer to scoop these rocks and haul them away when my foot got caught by the track of the skid steer as I gathered rocks for him," said Ludwig as she described the accident.

As she was caught up in the tracks, Ludwig suffered a severe compound fracture to the tibia and fibia in her left leg, meaning some of her bone had pierced the skin.

Sharon's son Brian, a Major in the U.S. Air Force, and her husband Jim, once a medic in the Vietnam War, acted swiftly.

Using a wood board and duct tape, they attached a splint to her leg before rushing to the CHI St. Alexius Medical Center in Carrington.

From there, Ludwig was flown to the Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck, where an orthopedic surgeon used an "external fixature" to set the broken bones. She was released 10 days later to Missouri Slope nursing care facility, where she's continuing the fight to avoid amputation.

"Now I am under the care of a plastic surgeon who did a debridement surgery on November 8 to help the leg heal faster with wound VAC therapy," said Ludwig.

A debridement surgery involves removing dead, damaged or infected tissue to improve healing of the remaining healthy tissue, and wound VAC therapy improves healing by decreasing air pressure on the wound.

Ludwig is set to stay at Missouri Slope for some time, as she's still scheduled for more surgeries - such as skin and tissue grafts - to hopefully save her leg. A flap surgery has been scheduled for Nov. 28.

"We continue to pray for more healing and we're hopeful the flap surgery on November 28 will be successful followed by skin grafts," said Ludwig.

It's undoubtedly been a tough number of weeks, and Ludwig acknowledged that amputation is a real possibility. However, with the support of her family, doctors and her faith, Ludwig believes there's plenty of reason to be hopeful.

"I am so grateful for the many trips to Bismarck by Jim and my daughters and sons from Minnesota, Florida and Minot to be with me," she said. "Jim's sister Mary has been with me many days, too."

Ludwig encourages those wanting to help or reach out to call her husband at (701) 649-0277 or (701) 674-3226. Community members have already been helping them out on the farm during this difficult time for the family.

"The healing process is long, and at times very painful," said Ludwig, "but I feel the power of prayer being answered. The support and concern from so many gives me hope and reassurance."

Cards and well wishes for Ludwig can be sent to Room 109, Missouri Slope, 4916 N. Washington, Bismarck, N.D. 58503.