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'Miracle girl' returns home after rural Magnolia Farm accident

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By
Mavis Fodness

Three-year-old Nora Matthiesen returned home to her rural Magnolia farm Feb. 10, surprising doctors and her parents, Jed and Deann Matthiesen, at the speed of her recovery.
“It is surprising on how fast she improved,” Deann said Saturday. “Her age worked in her favor — kids are so resilient.”
Nora’s skull was fractured Jan. 13 in a farm accident. She was unconscious when she was airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital.
Last week when Nora and her mom and dad turned into their farm driveway, they were greeted with snowflake ornaments hanging in the trees along the farm’s driveway and bright pink ribbons (Nora’s favorite color).
Eagerly waiting was Nora’s 17-month-old sister, Mara.
“I truly wish each and every one of you could have been able to witness the pure joy of two little girls/sisters getting to be reunited today,” wrote Deann’s mom, Lori Popkes, in her caringbridge.com post.
“Some of the best therapy is playing with Mara,” Deann said.
The frequent movement helps Nora improve balance and increase appetite.
She now wears glasses to counter double vision that resulted from the accident.
Vision therapy, along with continued physical therapy for the next several months, may improve her sight. Surgery is also an option.
“We will see how she does. We hope her vision improves with time,” Deann said.
Currently, the Matthiesens are just happy to have Nora home.
“She is truly a miracle girl,” Deann said. “We are so thankful for her to be home.”
Doctors kept Nora in a coma for a week to lessen the swelling in her head from the Jan. 13 accident
Sixteen days after the accident Nora was talking and recognizing visitors, but was physically weak.
She was transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals in Omaha, Nebraska, on Jan. 29, where she received twice-a-day exercises to improve balance and increase her appetite.
Her return home comes less than a month after the accident.
Nora had earlier indicated she wanted to go home to help dad with the upcoming births of calves and lambs. No lambs have arrived yet, and only a handful of calves are on the ground as of Saturday.
Deann is nervous to allow Nora to go outside due to cold weather, so they haven’t returned to where the accident happened.
Luckily, she said, Nora doesn’t remember anything from the accident.
“That is a blessing,” Deann said.
For now both parents are focusing on Nora’s continued recovery and upcoming therapy schedule in Sioux Falls.
Deann is on a leave of absence from her position as a neonatal nurse practitioner and Jed’s farm chores schedule is flexible.
As the Matthiesen family settles back into a routine, Popkes reflected on the accident in her Feb. 4 caringbridge.com post.
“As I look back to those first days when Nora’s little life truly ‘hung in the balance,’ there is absolutely not one shred of doubt that it was the prayers of so many that truly touched the heart of God to work a miracle in her life,” she wrote.
Snowflakes have become a symbol of hope for Nora’s recovery. A neighbor to the Matthiesens first showed her support by attaching a snowflake ornament to her mailbox.
The neighbor said that snowflakes are fragile yet are strong and resilient before forming into one of God’s beautiful masterpieces. Life is much the same.

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