CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Gabe Mier opened the front door Thursday morning, showing off a wide smile and a new lollipop he had just gotten after a trip to the chiropractor. When asked how he was feeling, he gave a big thumbs up and giggled.

For 5-year-old Gabe, it was great to be home, after spending five days in the hospital.

Gabe suffered a skull fracture to the back of the head and a bruise on his brain, after a wagon overturned Sept. 18 at Bushel and a Peck Orchard in the town of Lafayette, Wis. He was trapped under the wagon, and needed to be airlifted to a hospital in St. Paul.

His mom, Angie Mier, said she was stunned when hospital staff told her last Sunday night that he was ready to be released.

“I was very scared to leave the hospital, because we had all the support there,” Mier said Thursday. “I couldn’t believe he had progressed enough to come home on Sunday. I was excited to come home.”

Gabe is wearing a C-collar around his neck, and Angie Mier said he’s going to have to wear it all the time for at least the next two weeks.

“They couldn’t get a good scan of his spinal cord, because of the inflammation of his tendons and ligaments,” she explained.

Mier said the worst day was last Friday, noting that Gabe couldn’t keep food down and he needed IV fluids. He also has had problems with his balance. But, he steadily improved over the next couple of days.

Gabe attends St. Mark Lutheran School, but he will be staying at home for at least two weeks. His fellow kindergarten students showed up at his home and decorated his driveway in superhero art, so he would see it when he was released from the hospital.

“The school has been phenomenal,” Mier said. “I can’t say enough good things.”

Angie and Will Mier said they plan to stay home from work to watch him as he recovers.

“We’re limited on what he can do, and he gets tired easily,” she said. “He does really well in the morning, but it doesn’t take much to get him exhausted.”

With the Miers not at work, they thanked the community and their school for stepping up to help. Angie said the school has provided them with multiple meals. A GoFundMe account, which sought $12,000, has raised more than $48,000 as of this weekend.

“Words cannot even express how people have just been amazing and supportive,” Angie Mier said. “The money donated has really taken a lot of stress off us both. Overall, we feel incredibly blessed. We thought we’d be spending more time at the hospital.”

Recalling the crash

Angie, Will and Gabe Mier, along with Angie’s father, Bob Schmick, were on the lead wagon as it went through the Bushel and a Peck Orchard on Sept. 18.

“We noticed it was speeding up, and I thought we were going too fast,” Angie Mier recalled. She said it suddenly jackknifed and overturned. Luckily, the second wagon, connected to the back of the one they were in, detached and separated from theirs so it also didn’t flip. The Miers say the accident happened between 10:50 and 10:55 a.m.

“It could have been so much worse,” Angie Mier said. “The fact no one died is absolutely a miracle.”

However, it was clear that Gabe had suffered some serious injuries.

“I went head-first into the ground,” Gabe said.

“When I looked at him, he had blood gushing from his head,” Angie Mier said.

Will Mier took off his shirt and wrapped his son.

“I knew the bleeding had to stop, and it was the closest thing to me,” Will Mier said. “And I’m thankful I could get it under control.”

Schmick has an injured knee, neck and back, and he was in concussion protocol for 24 hours.

The Miers said first responders were on the scene quickly, and once the first one showed up, a number of ambulances quickly followed. The Lake Hallie Police Department, Chippewa Fire District, Chippewa Falls Fire Department, Cadott EMS and Fire, Boyd EMS, Bloomer Ambulance, Eau Claire Fire and EMS, Mayo Clinic Health Systems, Chippewa County Public Health, and Chippewa County Department of Health and Human Services were all on hand to address medical needs.

A medical helicopter arrived and flew Gabe to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Gabe was then transferred to the nearby pediatric intensive care unit at Gillette Children’s Hospital and Clinics, where he spent his five days recovering. While they were released last Sunday, they didn’t come home until Tuesday.

Will Mier stressed that the family holds no one at fault.

“We have no hard feelings with the orchard,” he said. “It was a complete accident.”

Angie agreed, saying, “It was very scary, but it could have been much worse for everybody.”