News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Bill Mintiens is back home in Sisters recovering from severe facial injuries received in a horseback riding accident on Sunday, June 17.
According to his wife Jan, Mintiens suffered a broken jaw, a broken chin and palate and shattered sinuses when a horse he was holding bolted suddenly, dragging and kicking him. Surgeons placed eight titanium plates in Mintiens' face.
"He took a real hit," Jan Mintiens said. "It's a miracle that he didn't have any brain damage."
Mintiens was holding his horse Tonto while a friend was mounting to ride double behind his six year old daughter. The horse had never carried two riders before, according to Jan. The day was windy and the combination of the conditions and unfamiliar circumstances may have spooked the horse.
"We just never thought it would be a problem," Jan said.
When the girl's father tried to mount, the horse bolted, with the six-year-old girl still in the saddle. Mintiens held on to the lead rope, trying to control the horse so the little girl wouldn't get bucked off and injured.
The horse flipped Mintiens over and dragged him, kicking to free itself of the tenacious horseman. Mintiens took a hoof squarely in the face.
The little girl eventually fell from the horse's back, unhurt. Her family sees Bill Mintiens as a hero.
His heroic act cost him considerable pain and the recovery is going to be long. Jan said he will have his jaw wired shut for two months.
But Mintiens is in top physical shape and made it home from the hospital much earlier than expected, so it is hoped that he will make a full and speedy recovery.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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