Winona community rallies to pay student’s medical bills after accident

(FOX 9) - After a serious crash on Jan. 20 near the campus of Winona State University, sophomore student Mackenzie Sinner spent weeks in the hospital, as doctors put her shattered skull back together with pins and plates. While she was hospitalized, the community rallied by her side, raising more than $20,000 for her medical bills.

After 27 days in the hospital, on Tuesday Mackenzie was discharged from La Crosse’s Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, returning to her family’s home near Blaine. 

"Obviously, I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody, but I think it has made me stronger," she told FOX 9. Nearly a month earlier, she’d been walking to class when a car struck her body’s right side.

Clinging to life, she was airlifted to the hospital, where her mother Julie sat by her side until she woke up.

"I was so afraid we weren’t going to know her, she wasn’t going to know us, or not remember a lot of things," Julie said.

"Going through this has been hard to be positive, and hard to be tough," Mackenzie added.

After multiple surgeries on her skull and leg, and with therapy ahead for a traumatic brain injury, the crash has left Mackenzie with a long road to recovery.

After a serious crash on Jan. 20 near the campus of Winona State University, sophomore student Mackenzie Sinner spent weeks in the hospital, as doctors put her shattered skull back together with pins and plates.

"Thousands of people were praying for us and we know that that is what has gotten her to this point so far," Julie said.

Many things that most of us take for granted have become a new source of frustration for the 19-year-old, "Putting my shoes on is hard, putting my pants on is hard," Mackenzie explained.

Now, her outpatient physical therapy is just beginning, and it’ll have all of her focus. She’ll take a semester off from school, but her goal is to get back to the classroom by this summer. The Blaine

High School graduate is thankful to be alive, and determined to make the most of her second chance at life. 

The Sinner family says police have told them an investigation into the crash may take three to six months to complete. Until then, they won’t know if the driver involved will be criminally charged.