Golf cart smacks tree, 3-foot branch impales Sartell man

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Josh Skattum, of Sartell, Minn., was recovering at Hennepin County Medical Center Tuesday after Dr. Jon Krook removed an oak branch that had pierced his leg during a golf cart accident over the weekend. Skattum said he wishes he would have stayed inside and watched a movie instead.

A harrowing accident left Josh Skattum, 24, with a three-foot branch piercing his leg. But no bones were broken and the branch missed a major artery. Doctors say he'll be fine.

By MARY LYNN SMITH, Star Tribune

Last update: May 28, 2008 - 8:25 AM

When trauma workers wheeled 24-year-old Josh Skattum of Sartell into the Hennepin County Medical Center emergency room, the first question was what to do with the oak branch sticking out from his leg.

The piece of tree had pierced Skattum's leg, entering at the inside of his left knee, pushing its way through his thigh and stopping short of poking out at his left hip.

The nearly 3 feet of the branch sticking out from Skattum's knee had to go before doctors could remove the rest of it from his thigh.

So HCMC trauma surgeon Dr. Jon Krook called maintenance.

A medical saw used to cut through bone had snagged on the oak, Krook said. "We needed a hacksaw.''

With the oak trimmed flush against Skattum's knee, Krook removed the rest of the branch, which was almost 3 inches in diameter.

A total of three surgeries, a couple of weeks in the hospital, and some physical therapy should have Skattum back to his old self. Except for the 2-foot-long scar on his leg.

No bones were broken, which could have caused major complications. And the branch missed a major artery in his leg.

"If it hit that artery, he could have bled to death,'' Krook said.

Skattum, lying in his hospital bed, with pictures of his 3-month-old son, Zachary, nearby, also considers himself a lucky man.

And wiser.

Skattum, his wife, Becky, and their son were visiting Skattum's dad in Aitkin on Friday night. They were just about to turn on a movie, when Skattum and his 16-year-old brother, Brett, hopped into a golf cart for a ride.

They headed to the dirt mound that served as a snowmobile jump in the winter. A rider could get some air when hitting it in a snowmobile, but on a golf cart, "it was just up and over,'' Skattum said. "You didn't get any air. And that was funny to us."

As darkness began to fall, they headed back to the house, taking a route they've gone countless times. The cart ran into a tree and the branch pierced the bottom of the cart and impaled Skattum.

An ambulance brought Skattum to Cayuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby. He was transferred by helicopter to HCMC in Minneapolis.

In retrospect, Skattum wonders why he didn't just stay in and watch the movie.

"It was something freaky that happened," Skattum said. "And I second-guessed some of those decisions.''

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788

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