By Lori EhdeAn 8-year-old Luverne girl is recovering at home from injuries she received Friday morning in a bicycle vs. car accident on West Main Street.Sheriff Mike Winkels happened to witness the accident at 7:51 a.m. as Andrea Woods was riding her bicycle north on Donaldson on her way to school.She was struck by a 2001 full-size black Dodge pickup driven by Charles Weber, who was headed east on Main Street as the bike crossed the intersection.Winkels saw Woods sail 60 feet through the air and land face-down on the ground."She was unresponsive for a short time, but within a minute we could hear her breathing," Winkels said.He kept her stable until the ambulance arrived. "When she left the scene, we still didn’t know who she was," he said. "There were neighbors out there speculating whose daughter she might be, but she didn’t know who she was or what had happened."Woods was taken to Luverne Community Hospital and then airlifted to Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, where she was released sometime over the weekend.Winkels said it’s remarkable the girl came away with such minor — or at least non-life threatening injuries."She’s a very lucky young lady," he said. "I know for a fact she received a pretty good blow to the head, and she was covered with skin abrasions."Winkels said Weber, who was driving into the bright sun at that time of the morning, didn’t see Woods approach the intersection."He told me that all of a sudden she was just there," Winkels said.The Star Herald was unable to reach the girl’s mother, Laura Woods, for details on her injuries or recovery, but Andrea was reportedly back in school Monday, attending classes in a wheelchair.
