Alexandria business owner in hospital following extensive injuries from snowmobile crash

ASHBY — Despite almost losing her life in a snowmobile crash nearly two weeks ago and suffering from severe injuries, Becky Sletto of Brandon is spreading cheer and words of gratitude to everyone she comes in contact with at CentraCare Hospital in St. Cloud.

“I decided while I am here, I was just going to focus on God, His healing and the staff. I really have been trying to compliment, bless and tell every single person that’s come in contact with me how wonderful they are,” said Sletto in a FaceTime interview from her hospital bed on Monday, Feb. 20. “I’ll see their strengths and I’ll tell them, ‘Wow, you are really good at that.’ I thank them for what they are doing for me. And they just light up. It just blesses my heart.”

As thankful as she is for all of the people who are taking care of her at the hospital, Sletto is most thankful for one particular nurse. A nurse who doesn’t even work at the hospital, but who saved her life.

Sletto, a single mom, co-owns Bombshells Salon and Spa in Alexandria. She has three children at home, ages 16, 9 and 6, as well as a grown daughter and a granddaughter who live nearby.

The snowmobile crash happened on Saturday, Feb. 11, in Ashby. Sletto was riding with three others — Connor Myers, who is her boyfriend, along with her friend of 35 years, Beth Minners, and her husband, Troy Minners.

Sletto wanted to surprise Myers with a snowmobile ride and Minners set it up for the four of them to ride. They had been riding some trails, but stopped in Ashby to get gas.

Beth Minners said that after getting gas, she and husband took off across Main Street back toward the trails and that Sletto and Myers were behind them.

“We were waiting for them to come, but it was taking a while so Troy went to see what was up and I instantly knew something wasn’t right,” said Minners. “I heard sirens and I started praying right away. That’s how fast they responded to her. It was unreal.”

Ken Froemming, a Grant County sheriff’s deputy who knows Sletto because their kids are in the same school, heard the page but was on the south county line, away from where the crash happened.

Because it first sounded like there were some head injuries, LifeLink III was called to the scene, said Froemming. The Ashby First Responders and Ambulance were paged out immediately and Froemming said they got a landing zone set up on Main Street, right east of TFC Poultry.

When Froemming arrived, Sletto was in the ambulance and he sat in there, talking to her, until the helicopter arrived.

“You don’t know how comforting it was to see a familiar face in that moment,” said Sletto about having Froemming sit with her. “Just him talking to me and me knowing him was just so soothing because it was scary. He was such a blessing.”

Froemming explained what happened. He said Sletto’s snowmobile wouldn’t turn on the tar and she panicked and instead of hitting her brakes, she hit the throttle and rammed into a parked vehicle.

Sletto said she hadn’t been on a snowmobile since she was a teenager and that yes, she panicked and hit the gas, crashing into a car probably going 50 miles per hour.

“Thank God I had my helmet on,” she said.

She didn’t have any head injuries, but her injuries were extensive. The handlebars of the snowmobile went into the upper part of her thigh, damaging her femoral vein, causing her to lose about six units of blood. She also severed a tendon in her right thumb and has a compression fracture in her lower spine.

Froemming said a woman, Kasey Brandenburger, who happened to be nearby heard the crash and immediately went to Sletto’s aid.

“She’s a nurse and if it wasn’t for her, Becky would not be here. Becky would 100% be dead,” said Froemming, adding that the quick action of not only that nurse, but the Ashby ambulance personnel who responded quickly to the scene, saved Sletto’s life.

Brandenburger and her husband have a lake home on Sewell Lake, just outside of Ashby. The couple, who live in New Effington, South Dakota, had gone to town to have breakfast. Brandenburger, who works as the director of nursing at a nursing home in Hankinson, North Dakota, said she and her husband spend most weekends at their home and they typically have breakfast in Ashby on Saturday mornings. This particular Saturday, she said, they went a little later than normal.

She said they were just leaving the cafe when they heard the snowmobiles going to the gas station.

“We looked over and saw them as we walked to our pickup,” said Brandenburger. “We heard one of the snowmobiles rev their engine. Thinking it was just someone showing off, we proceeded to get in our vehicle. As I was stepping up into the pickup, I heard a band or pop, like someone dropped a snowmobile off a trailer or something.”

The couple didn’t see anything right away, but as she looked around some more, Brandenburger said she saw a few people walking over between some vehicles.

“I told my husband, ‘I wonder if they need medical help’ and then I jogged over there,” she said. “As soon as I could see a person, I said I need something to stop the bleeding.”

Sletto said when the crash happened, Myers was there and saw everything. He thought there was fluid leaking out of the snowmobile, but it was actually her blood, she said.

“It was pouring out like crazy. Connor said, ‘Honey, are you OK?’ and I said I didn’t know, but I thought so,” said Sletto. “Then I looked down and there was blood literally everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. It was a bit traumatizing.”

Brandenburger said she took her coat and balled it up to apply pressure. Sletto said Brandenburger used Myers' coat as a tourniquet and tied off her femoral vein.

“I screamed. It hurt so bad,” said Sletto.

Minners, who at that time, was back at the gas station, said it was so hard seeing her friend after the crash.

“Seeing her, scared and in pain, was one of the hardest things I have ever had to face,” said Minners. “It is something that will be hard to erase from my mind. But each time I see her smiling face, I am reminded that God is good.”

Sletto said that because of a basketball tournament in town, there were lots of people around and that because of it, there were EMTs on scene in a matter of minutes.

“Just how everything lined up was because of God’s divinity,” said Sletto. “It was just unbelievable. Every person in place was there at the right spot at the right time. It was just like all these little miracles.”

Sletto was able to meet Brandenburger.

“I couldn’t believe it. I woke up in the ICU and they were standing there and I didn’t know what to say,” said Sletto. “I don’t know how you say anything to somebody who saves your life. It’s so cliche to just say thank you. You see these things on the news or in movies and don’t expect them to happen to you. Saying thank you doesn’t even feel like enough. It never will.”

Sletto called Brandenburger a “sweet little soul” and thought it was so neat that she was able to meet her. She said they exchanged numbers and plan to stay in touch.

Saying thank you to all who were at the scene is something Sletto is looking forward to. She said she wants to do something good for them.

“I don’t know what that will look like, but I want to do something. I want to show them how important they are.”

Sletto said she is trying really hard to make those around her feel good and for them to know they are doing a good job.

“I think life is just hard sometimes and our world is kind of crazy sometimes, so if I can shed a little bit of light, that will be so good,” said Sletto. “I just want to love on everybody, no matter what their position is. There are people who struggle and we can’t see their struggles. We need to say thank you more and appreciate people more. If someone comes in to take out my garbage, I say thank you and that I appreciate what they are doing. I’m so grateful for every little thing.”

But thanking people just doesn’t seem like enough for Sletto, she said. She wants to “do the next right thing” and she would love for everybody to always do whatever the next right thing is.

For example, she said that Myers’ coat was ruined and the next right thing would be to buy him a new one and so that is what she plans on doing.

Her positive attitude, bubbly personality and big heart doesn’t surprise her friends. Minners said, “She is such a light to so many people. She is infectious, crazy and loved by so many. Anyone who has met her once will never forget her.”

In a post on her GoFundMe page, a friend wrote, “Coming up with inventive ways to show people that she loves them is just one of the ways Becky shines…Becky has one of the biggest hearts of anyone we know.”

Because of the extent of her injuries, Sletto has already had to go through multiple surgeries and will be going through more. She has endured some setbacks and it is unknown at this time how long she will be hospitalized.

As she may be wheelchair bound, there was a group of people who have stepped up and already built her a ramp at her home in Brandon.

Dave Qual, a friend of Myers, said it was his men’s group at VIE church that built the ramp. He mentioned in a text message to the newspaper that the owners of Slack Painting, a business that happens to be across the street from Sletto’s house, allowed the group to use the shop to build the ramp.

“Our group was happy to help,” said Qual.

Several other people have reached out to help financially through the GoFundMe page that has been set up for her.

According to the information on the page, because of the extensive injuries and everything else she is facing, it is unknown when Sletto will be able to return to work.

“She has a long road of recovery ahead of her. And unfortunately for her, this means she has no way to provide for her family,” it said in the post.

Donations can be made via her GoFundMe page . Go to gofundme.com and search for “Becky Sletto.” They can also be made directly to her via her Venmo account – @Becky-Sletto – or to Bell Bank in Alexandria, c/o Becky Sletto.