TOWN OF WAYNE — Just days before July 15, Jonathan Christner, of Wayne, was wrestling with concerns for the world and his family. 

“All these bad things are happening in the world,” Jonathan Christner said. “There have been drownings, a plane crash, ATV accidents... I just kept thinking, ‘When is it going to be us?’”

July 15 seemed like a quiet Sunday evening. Jonathan was just finishing work when he heard the South Wayne fire alarm. 

“I paused wondering who it could be for,” Jonathan said. “The sirens started getting closer. I knew it had to be someone I knew. When the sheriff passed me, I thought about trying to follow him, but he was so quick.”

Jonathan finished his tasks and began to head down his driveway when the South Wayne First Responders turned on to his lane.

“I moved out of their way quickly and followed them down,” Jonathan said. “The store is only a little bit away. I was just up the road…”

Joanna Christner, Jonathan’s wife, had taken their two-year-old daughter, Maria, to visit Joanna’s parents and siblings as she was accustomed to doing during the day. The two families only live about a quarter of a mile away. Adventurous Maria likes to go outside and play there. Joanna’s sister routinely checked in on her and the other members of the family.

Around 5 p.m. Joanna’s sister found Maria being attacked by one of the dogs on the farm. 

“It’s hard to say what happened,” Jonathan said. “Maria can’t say what happened. The husky had been Joanna’s brother’s dog for about two years now.”

The dog was put down after the incident.

“She never seemed to bother anyone, and Maria wasn’t scared of her. No one had any reason to think of it biting,” Jonathan said.

Joanna and her sister acted quickly, trying to determine the seriousness of the injuries as Maria was bleeding from puncture wounds on her neck. She was bleeding uncontrollably. They called 911 immediately. 

“I think we figured it was about 8 minutes and the First Responders had arrived,” Jonathan said. “They beat me there and I wasn’t very far away.”

When the responders arrived, Maria was largely unresponsive. She eventually woke up. The team used ice and wet towels on the wounds to slow the bleeding. Jonathan estimates it was another 10 minutes before the Green County ambulance arrived. 

Once at Monroe Clinic ER, Maria was examined to find she suffered from a collapsed lung, three fractured ribs, internal bleeding from a laceration on her liver and substantial muscle and ligament damage in her neck. The medical staff quickly inserted a chest tube. Before 8 p.m. that evening, Maria was transferred to the UW-Madison Children’s Hospital for treatment. She spent the next three days in the PICU on life support.

On Saturday, July 17, Maria was taken off the ventilator and sedative she had been taking. By Sunday morning, she seemed alert.

“She woke up in this place she didn’t know,” Jonathan said. “She was scared and wasn’t quite herself at first, but when we started talking about taking her home, she seemed to perk up.”

Six days after her admission, Maria was cleared to go home. 

“It wasn’t until the ride home that Maria started talking,” said Jonathon. “She hadn’t spoken much during her stay, but on the way home, she seemed to return more to her normal self.”

As of August 2, Maria no longer needs to wear the neck brace unless she feels she needs some extra support, all stitches have been removed and her wounds no longer need covering. 

Maria’s nurse wrote, “[She is] healing well. No need to bandage her wounds any more as [Jonathan and Joanna] have done an excellent job taking care of them.”

Maria is still restricted for 4 weeks, until Sept. 1, to limited physical activity, meaning no jumping or sport-like play that could reopen her laceration and cause internal bleeding.

Jonathan believes Maria will make a 100% full recovery mentally and physically. 

“She is still scared of dogs right now,” Jonathan said. 

While in the hospital, Maria was reading a touch book. When the page had a dog with furry ears, Maria turned away. She has nightmares. 

“It could’ve been so much worse,” Jonathan said. “God’s plan was there. It was a large dog who could’ve killed her instantly if [the animal] wanted to. One of the puncture wounds had just missed a major artery. She could’ve bled out in minutes, but Maria has no life altering wounds.”

The Christner family is very thankful for all the support they have received from friends and family in the numerous ways it has been given. 

“We are very grateful for the large amounts of compassion and feel a bit unworthy of it,” Jonathan said. “I hope someday we will be able to return it. It has been a blessing.”

Jeremy Christner, Maria’s grandfather, wrote a special message to those that helped Maria.

“As a grandparent of Maria, we want to express our heart-felt gratefulness to the First Responders for their prompt, professional attention! ‘THANK YOU’ for your sacrifice and commitment to the welfare of our community! If it hadn’t been for that, Maria may not have survived,” Jeremy Christner wrote. “We know God is in control and thank Him for watching out for little Maria and providing the right people at the right time to do this service. We’re also thankful to the County Sheriffs and First Responders from other communities that came to assist and lend their support to our South Wayne Team.

Jeremy expressed regret in learning that the South Wayne Fire Department and First Response team is retiring. He thanked Eric Berget for more than 25 years of service, as well as Donna Flannery “for many hours of time spent on behalf of the community. May the other Erics and Donnas among us, rise to the challenge and willing fill this needful and important position.” He is also thankful for Jenny Wisnefski, a neighbor and nurse who assisted the family at Monroe Clinic and upon arrival home from Madison.

Jeremy said that his granddaughter’s case is an example of how important it is to have a full first response team that works with the local fire department. 

“Consider how different this could have turned out if we would have had to wait for someone to come from Gratiot or Browntown. Or, what if there would be a medical emergency in one of their communities while they’re on call over here?” Jeremy pondered. “It is with humble thankfulness that we feel privileged to have these two communities commit themselves to serve for us in this way, even though the distance between us may be the difference of life and death. And the sobering thought of this is; it may not always be someone in the South Wayne area that’s affected but it could also affect someone in either one of their own communities too.”

Reflecting on the possible outcomes, Jonathan believes what happened to Maria has helped their family grow in patience, love, faith and purpose.

“You can’t plan for something like this. Life happens so quickly. It is important to take advantage of the time you have. Create happy memories and live life with no regrets,” Jeremy said.