Herald circulation manager out of hospital, recovering
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By Jacob Brooks
Williston Herald
Jenna Godt, the Williston Herald circulation manager who was struck by a drunken driver while she was delivering newspapers, is back home and back on her feet after a tumultuous battle in critical condition.
Godt, 27, arrived in Williston, N.D., on Wednesday night after spending 10 days in a Minot hospital, including several days in intensive care.
In the weeks since the accident, Godt said she has been amazed at the support she's received from the community.
"It's almost surreal to me," Godt said.
Godt was walking back to her vehicle parked on 11th Street East in the early part of her route about 1:15 a.m. on Aug. 7 when she was struck by a 1989 Nissan pickup truck.
The blow sent Godt flying, and she landed in the street bleeding from about 20 different cuts from head to toe. Her skull and pelvis were fractured in multiple places. She suffered three broken vertebrae and bruises everywhere. Police said the driver of the pickup, 24-year-old Allen Linghor, from Williston, had been drinking and driving.
He was charged with DUI with serious bodily injury and careless driving.
Before hitting Jenna, his truck sideswiped Jenna's vehicle, where her two sons, Kristian, 6, and Ayvie, 4, were inside. The boys were not injured.
Godt said she spoke with Linghor by phone while she was in the hospital. She said he profoundly apologized.
"He seems like a pretty decent guy, and seems pretty broke up," Godt said, adding Linghor said the accident has led him to rethink his lifestyle and change it for the better. Some of Godt's family did know Linghor before the accident, but Godt did not.
She said he sounded sincere, but she doesn't know for sure.
"I'd hate to see this destroy his entire life," Godt said.
For now, Godt is focused on getting her body healed, but she doesn't like just laying around.
"I can't stand sitting around. I'm so used to working at the Herald,"
she said.
Godt is able to walk with the help of a walker or leaning against something.
Still looking rough and walking slowly, she stopped by the Herald's downtown office Thursday, and that night went to Walmart to try and find a lawn chair that she could use in the bathtub. Her ex-husband, who is on leave from the Navy, is in town and helping her get around.
She thanked her friends, family, the Herald and the entire community for the support she has received since the accident.
"It's part of the reason I came home to Williston," she said.
Godt grew up in Williston, and joined the Navy in 2002. She moved back to town last year and began working at the Herald in January.