Latest Update For Sophia Wilansky [Recently Updated]

Sophia Wilansky was one among the hundreds who got ambushed on Bridge 1806 by Morton County Police the night of November 20th, 2016. The group had initially organized an effort to relocate two vehicles that Dakota Access Pipeline workers had set ablaze to help police fortify a barrier to protect construction routes (prior to them placing numerous cement blockades on it) but police had begun attacking them with rubber bullets, firehoses and other riot weapons. Sophia had been struck by a concussion grenade which then exploded after impacting her arm leaving her in critical condition. The photos of her gruesome attack went viral as the extent of the damage was incredibly graphic.

Latest Legal Update: May 25th 2017

Update on the legal status: Formal notices of claim have been filed against the MCSD and Kyle Kirchmeir and other law enforcement entities for state tort claims and federal section 1983 civil rights claims. Additionally, a notice of claim has also been filed for libel, slander and defamation. This is the first step in a long legal process as we prepare to sue the various entities and people responsible for this horrific act.The filing of a notice of claim is a legal requirement in North Dakota before suing the various municipal and state defendants involved.

December 7th 2017 - Public Update From Sophia's Father:

Sophia is doing better each day and we are excited at the prospect of her going home on Saturday December 10th 2016. She is really looking forward to hugging her dog Angus.

It's still difficult to control the pain but with long acting morphine and oxycodone it is most often tolerable. She is very brave and I witness that bravery on a daily basis as she goes through all the bandage changes and physical therapy in an effort for her to get strong enough to leave the hospital.

She wants to continue the fight for the indigenous communities and is so very grateful for the outpouring of support from those communities and so many others as well. She has received cards and letters from as far off as Australia and a small island off the coast of British Columbia. There have been prayer groups in different areas of the Country praying for her and sending light and healing energy to her. I am touched everyday by the warmth and generosity of the people of Minnesota. We have doctors in NY waiting to meet with her and plan her next steps and we hope and pray that they will be able to reattach her median nerve and some tendons and get some feeling and function into her arm and hand. Keep up the fight at Standing Rock and keep us in your hearts and prayers. Love and Light Always! - Wayne

December 23rd 2016 - Public Update From Sophia:

"This is what my arm looks like as of Tuesday 12/13/16, 22 days after law enforcement on highway 1806 hit it with a ("LESS-LETHAL") grenade which exploded on contact, and 3 days after I was finally discharged from the hospital. The black rods are an external fixator (ex-fix) which is screwed into my bones to hold them in place; the bone is fractured and a piece is missing. I lost both arteries in my arm and one was replaced with a vein taken from my left leg; I am about to stop taking blood thinner shots but I will have to take aspirin for the rest of my life because a blood clot in the vein-turned-artery would make me lose the arm. Next, my arm was stuffed with a large piece of my lat muscle; I still have a device draining fluids from inside my back where the muscle was taken from. Finally, my arm was covered with a large skin graft taken from my right thigh. All of this skin will take at least a year to look relatively normal. In the bottom left corner of this photo you can see the bullet wound from where I was shot (with a "RUBBER bullet") right before I was hit with the grenade."

-Sophia

March 6th, 2017 - Public Update From Sophia's Family:

Sophia will undergo surgery tomorrow at 9:55am (EST). Please send prayers and keep her in your thoughts. They will take the middle portion of her fibula bone in her lower leg and some bone from her iliac crest to promote bone healing and use that to replace the shattered radius in her left arm. They will also use decellularized nerve from a cadaver to try to rebuild her median and ulnar nerve. The bone should heal within 3-4 months and the nerve will take 9 months to a year to function. Later she will deal with tendon transfers to try to get her fingers to work.

March 7th, 2017 - Public Update From Sophia's Family:

Sophia's surgery just ended and it went better than anticipated. The bone in her arm had miraculously healed more than anticipated and they didn't need to take the bone from her leg. They filled the missing bone with a graft from her hip and internally fixated it. They are hoping over the next 4 months that the bone will grow to fill the gap and heal. The nerve transplants were successful but will take about a year till we know if they become activated. Tendon transfers will come later to try to facilitate movement. Thank you for all the prayers!

May 25th 2017 - Public Update From Sophia's Family:

Update on Sophia's current medical condition. On March 7th a bone was transplanted into her arm to take the place of her radius along with some bone material from her left hip and some bone cement. That bone was affixed with a plate and screws and is showing signs of healing. We are hoping that by August or September the bone will be healed. More tenuous is the status of the two transplanted nerves taken from a cadaver to take the place of her median and ulnar nerve. At present there is no sign of sensation from these nerves though her MD said that it would take 9-12 months for the nerves to innervate. We are hopeful that by December they begin to show some signs of life. If the nerves do innervate and some feeling returns the next step probably next year would be a tendon transfer. They would take tendons from the dorsal side of her arm and hand and transplant them to the palmar side in an attempt to allow her to pinch her fingers together. She is seeing a Board Eligible hand therapist working to ensure that her fingers do not contract while we wait for the nerves to innervate. The physical therapy is slow and painful, however, her fingers look good and so far she has avoided significant contracture. Although her arm and hand has very little functional use at this point we remain very hopeful that with time some form and function will return. Once again we are so very thankful for all the support and prayers that have sustained us in this very long battle.

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4 Comments Posted

John Kesich December 9, 2016 at 3:36 am

So when are criminal charges going to be filed against those responsible?

Aaron Jensen December 10, 2016 at 12:41 pm

When will Sophia have charges brought against her for creating ied’s that were being thrown at the police? This girl belongs in prison.

- Andy Hart December 10, 2016 at 10:25 pm
  
  Hi Aaron, Morton County Police are quick to press charges so if anything of that nature was remotely true then it would have been made in a public statement on their website or through the update videos they publish on their social media account. Have you considered that what you read was intended to villanize her and that the source may be propaganda?
  
  – Andy
  
David k February 21, 2017 at 2:03 am

Wow.I was there.protestors lit the vehicles on fire.fact.I saw it. They also did indeed rig propane tanks with explosives.that’s what blew her arm up there were mor injuries from it but they wernt reported because it would be obvious no grenade was used. I was there.fact.