BREITUNG TWP- Five members of an extended family from Rochester were sent to area hospitals last Thursday, Aug. 17, after their 2019 Sienna minivan collided with a moose on Hwy. 169 near the Murray Road, about two miles east of Soudan.
“We’ve had better days,” said 43-year-old Jason Dinsmore, who was driving his family back from an afternoon in Ely. The family had a late lunch at Insula, one of their favorite spots, he said, and then did some shopping, before heading back to Shamrock Landing, to boat back out to their water access cabin on Lake Vermilion.
As they were driving back, around 6 p.m., the weather quickly turned dark, and it started pouring rain, greatly reducing visibility.
“A few seconds after that,” Dinsmore said, “it happened.”
Jason said he doesn’t remember the accident itself, just that their van was stopped and there was a moose.
“I didn’t have time to hit the brakes,” he said. The moose hit the front passenger side, took out the front windshield, was hurled onto the roof, breaking the sunroof, and then then tumbled back to the ground.
The family’s two children, Eivin, age 9, and Logan, age 13, along with Jason’s mother Anna, were in the back seat. The three suffered cuts and bruises but were otherwise not seriously hurt. Everyone in the car was wearing their seatbelts.
A “good Samaritan” stopped right after the accident, and she provided a warm and dry spot in her SUV for the children and his mother to wait until the ambulance arrived, since it was still pouring rain.
An emergency room doctor who works at Ely-Bloomenson also happened to be driving by and stayed with Jason and Lauren, Jason’s wife, until the ambulances arrived.
“I just have cuts and bruises,” he said, noting he is still quite sore.
Lauren Dinsmore was not as lucky.
“She took a direct hit from the moose itself,” Jason said. “And she was trapped in the car.”
Lauren suffered extensive facial trauma from the broken glass, as well as damage from a direct hit from the moose, including embedded bone fragments. Lauren and Jason were both covered with broken glass, moose hair, and moose fragments after the crash.
Lauren was taken by ambulance to Essentia-Virginia, and then airlifted to Duluth, where she underwent two surgeries.
Jason said the care the family received in Ely was “amazing.” The lead ER nurse even volunteered to drive them back to Shamrock Landing, after they were all treated and cleared for release. Luckily, they had a second car parked at Shamrock, so they could get to Duluth to see Lauren.
The staff at Shamrock Marina also jumped in to help, securing their boat during the storm, and neighbors on the lake stepped up to care for their dog, which had been left alone at the cabin.
“We’d like to recognize the truly heroic efforts by our neighbors who took in our dog and made sure he got his seizure medication.
Jason said that knowing that their dog was safe made “all the difference” for his family.
“We are relatively new to the lake community,” he said, “but the outpouring of support by the Ely and Vermilion communities has been amazing.”
Lauren was released on Aug. 19, and the family returned home to Rochester. She will require additional reconstructive surgeries at the Mayo Clinic to fully restore her eyesight. She suffered multiple broken bones in her face, broken teeth, as well as serious injuries to both eyes.
“It will take some months,” he said, “but they hope to restore full eyesight.”
Both Jason and Lauren’s parents have been an essential part of the family’s healing journey. Jason’s father and sister flew in from Michigan the day after the accident, helping to get the cabin closed up and get the children back home. Lauren’s parents also have been helping the family out.
Jason, an attorney, is the Director of Conservation Partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation. Lauren is a veterinarian.
Jason said he has only seen moose in the wild a few times.
“It’s good to see them,” he said, “just not in front of my car!”
This is the second summer the family has had their Vermilion cabin, and Jason said the family hopes to be spending lots of time on the lake in the future.
The St. Louis County Sheriff, Breitung Police, and Tower Ambulance and Fire Departments responded to the scene. The Ely Ambulance Service was also on scene.