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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
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Uninvited Easter guest Deer crashes through Alma Esser's window at Woodland Good Samaritan Center Staff Writer Of all the furry woodland creatures Alma Esser could have had crashing through her window Sunday, she probably would've preferred the Easter Bunny.
Instead, the 95-year-old wheelchair-bound and vision-impaired Woodland Good Samaritan resident was greeted by a desperate, apartment-crashing deer.
"And you don't often see deer in nursing homes," Alma said Tuesday with a laugh, recounting her experience at Woodland Good Samaritan Center in Brainerd.
Alma was relaxing in her living room near the picture window about 5 p.m. Sunday, having just enjoyed Easter dinner with her family. She heard a crash in her bedroom and assumed something had fallen. Seconds later, the source of the crash walked into her living room and up to the picture window.
"I knew it was a deer. It was right in front of me," Alma said. "Next thing I knew he dashed up to the window, he -- I keep calling it a 'he' but it was a doe -- got twisted in the curtains. He was pretty close to me."
Alma said she wasn't frightened, she only wanted to get out of the apartment as quickly as she could -- no easy task for the wheelchair-bound nonagenarian. A task that normally took about four minutes was completed in record time for Alma.
"I think I made it out in about in a minute," she said.
She activated her Lifeline -- the first time she had ever used it -- and rolled into the hallway. She called out for help and was greeted by a minister who was giving an Easter sermon at the center.
"I said, 'There's a deer in my apartment.' I'm sure he thought I had lost it completely. So I said, 'Go and look' and when he came out he was bug-eyed," Alma said.
The minister went to find a Woodland staffer for help, she said.
"He told her, 'There's a deer in apartment 44,' and the worker said, 'Yes, she's a very nice lady,'" in a bit of a misunderstanding, Alma said.
Soon Brainerd police officers and North Ambulance arrived at her apartment. Breaking the living room window and using a Taser, Brainerd Police Officer Mike Lambert was able to get the deer out of the apartment.
The deer did a lot of damage to the single-bedroom apartment. It broke a footstool, a needlepoint table and a little couch. It also left bloodstains and bloody hoof prints on most of the carpeting, the furniture and on the walls -- six feet high in one spot.
"It looks like a vicious crime scene inside," said Alma's son, Steve Esser.
Alma stayed in the nursing area Sunday night, and on Monday she was moved into an apartment across the hallway from her old home.
Word of Alma's close encounter quickly spread through Woodland Good Samaritan Center. And ever since Sunday she has been regaling her fellow residents, family members, center employees and a reporter with the story.
"You don't get that kind of excitement every day," said another son, Dick Esser.
"I should have charged admission yesterday," Alma said. "It's an unusual Easter bunny."
The best part of the story for Alma was that no one was injured during the melee.
"I was just lucky," she said. She's also lucky in the help she's received. Along with family members helping her move, she said Woodland staffers have done a good job of getting her things in shape and taking care of her.
"So last night I got to sleep in my own bed, thank goodness."
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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