November 10, 2013, is a day Matt Fischer will never forget. Like most farmers, even if the chores are done, there is always more to do. Matt decided to work on the stack mover and store it away for winter. As he was oiling the chains, one of the rotating shaft couplings caught his heavy coat pulling him in. It grabbed his left arm and flipped his body over onto the machine’s cleated moving chains. His arm kept twisting, pulling his body tighter and tighter. All Matt could think was, “This can’t be it. I don’t want to die this way.” Before he knew it he fell to the ground and was free. The machine wrenched off his arm and severely cut his left leg. With all his strength Matt pulled himself out from under the stack mover and climbed into his pickup. He drove to his mother’s house, a quarter mile down the road. “I had a choice to make, go home or go to my mother’s. I didn’t want to go home because my two daughters were there, and I didn’t want them to see me like that,” reflected Matt.
Upon arriving at his mother’s house, she called the local ambulance. “As I was laying in the entryway waiting for the ambulance, the pain grew more intense,” said Matt. The ambulance arrived. He was put on a stretcher and taken about fifteen miles down the road where a medical helicopter met them.
As the elevator doors opened at CHI St. Alexius Health, Matt remembers being greeted by Dr. Bopp and Dr. Pierce from The Bone & Joint Center, Dr. Kane from Mid Dakota Clinic, and about 40 other associates. He knew he would be in good hands. Within hours, the wounds were cleaned of dirt, gravel, and oil, and he was taken into surgery and later to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to recover. After imaging from the Radiology department, careful consideration and input from his orthopedic specialist, Dr. Pierce, Matt’s wounded left leg had to be removed above the knee because of extensive skin and nerve loss. His left arm was amputated by the accident and was unable to be reattached because of the damage to the arm.
After being in the medical center for three weeks, Matt, his wife Becky and two daughters were ready to go home. Along with their chores, six-year-old Emma and nine-year-old Morgen now have important family roles, “Emma is my left leg and Morgen is my left arm,” stated Matt.
While continuing his healing journey, Matt was eventually ready for prosthetics. He worked with Eric Lieux at CHI St. Alexius Health Great Plains Rehabilitation Services. “Eric was great in helping me learn how to live with a new arm and leg. Adapting to the arm was easier than the leg, but getting between those parallel bars and taking that first step was a good feeling,” said Matt. Once Matt was fit with a bionic leg, it allowed him to walk and function independently without the need of an assistive device. Several tests were done showing Matt was fully functional with his prosthetics; therefore he did not need extensive physical therapy. Matt stated, “That’s why this happened to me, because God knew I could handle it.”
A year and a half later, life continues. Besides farming, Matt works as an engineer with Prairie Engineering in Bismarck. He said, “I am just as busy, but it’s a little harder. Life has slowed down some; learning how to do things with a prosthetic arm and leg.” With Matt’s busy schedule he still finds time to volunteer at University of 
Mary to help physical therapy students learn more about life of an amputee.
Even though life has slowed down, Matt’s motivational story quickly moves people. With his quiet and humble strength, Matt will inspire others as the Star for the third annual CHI St. Alexius Health’s Night for the Stars on Saturday, April 11 at the Bismarck Event Center. Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit patients served in the ICU and the Radiology department, two areas, among many in the medical center, where patients and families need encouragement. Like Matt said, “You can do things if you really want to – push yourself to do it and never give up.”