If you're going to do circulation, it’s good to be tough as nails
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By Jacob Brooks
Williston Herald
In a typical week, newspaper circulation work can be rough. There are thousands of newspapers that need delivered — from downtown to dirt roads throughout the county. Sometimes deliveries get missed, complaints get filed, etc. etc.
But the groundwork of delivering newspapers took a tragic turn for Jenna Godt, the Williston Herald's circulation manager, on Aug. 7.
She was walking back to her vehicle parked on 11th Street East in the early part of her route at 1:16 a.m. when she was struck by a 1989 Nissan pickup truck.
The blow sent 27-year-old Jenna 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.
Jenna was life-flighted to Minot in critical condition. On Sunday afternoon, I saw a cell-phone photo of her in the hospital bed.
She looked like someone beaten to within an inch of her life. Maybe worse.
Police said the driver of the pickup, 24-year-old Williston man Allen Linghor, 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.
On Friday, I spoke with Jenna's mother, Sandee Evanson, who has been at her daughter's side all week in Minot.
She said the children were not injured in the accident, and the police did a good job to ensure the children did not become distraught at the scene.
The young boys do know now that their mother was hit by a car, and they went to Minot on Friday to see Jenna for the first time since the accident. Jenna doesn't remember the accident, but she is aware of what happened, her mother said.
The past week — a week filled with CAT scans and X-rays — has been difficult, said Evanson, who has worked at the Herald for years.
Things were touch-and-go early in the week, and doctors kept her in critical condition through Wednesday. The days in which Jenna were in critical condition were the toughest for her mother.
"Your emotions play on you," Evanson said, adding she was in "mom mode" most of the time. But tragedy takes a toll, and sometimes she did break down.
The support of family and friends was paramount.
"Without that, I'd be a total basket case," she said.
Jenna was moved out of the intensive care unit during the middle of the week, and has been continuing to recover in the hospital since. The family is hopeful she may be released in another week, although the road to full recovery could be a long one. Jenna has already had at least one surgery and may need more.
"Now we're wondering how long it's going to take," Evanson said, adding her daughter has surprised hospital staff day after day by pulling out the ventilator, writing and other things she shouldn't be doing in her condition.
"She's such a fighter," Evanson said. "When she wants something, she's going to get it."
Evanson said she knew the young man that hit her daughter previously, not unusual for a small town like Williston.
"It's just terrible that this has happened. It's sad on both ends," she said, adding she hopes Linghor can learn from his mistake.
I hope so, too. But I'd say one thing is for sure: Jenna, a Navy veteran who grew up in Williston, is tough. Tough as nails, some might say.
She spoke to me briefly over the phone from her hospital bed Friday. I asked her what she had to say about the whole ordeal.
"I'm OK. It could be worse," she said, seeming to take it all in stride as she was about to be rolled away for another CAT scan.
And for the young man who hit her, Jenna offered a message of forgiveness.
"He's going to have to live with what he did to me for the rest of his life. I kind of hope people pray for him, too."
Jacob Brooks is the managing editor of the Williston Herald. He can be reached at editor@willistonherald.com or 572-2165.