Update: Winthrop girl struck by pickup in stable but critical condition

A nine-year-old girl was critically injured Monday night when she was struck by a pickup in Winthrop.

The child’s name has not been released.  She was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to a crash report from the Minnesota State Patrol.

The girl’s mother, Kelsey Sondag, told SMN Tuesday morning that her daughter is currently in surgery to stop a brain bleed.  The child also suffered a minor skull fracture, a head laceration that required staples, extensive bruising on her head, a broken collarbone, a broken back rib, a partially collapsed lung, and considerable road rash and bruising, according to her mother.

The patrol says the girl was a passenger in a semi parked on the shoulder of Highway 19 at North Redwood St in Winthrop.  The girl had apparently stepped out of the semi and into the roadway when a pickup that was eastbound on Highway 19 “made contact” with her, according to the report.

The driver of the pickup was Jerry Gail Mortenson, 74, of Maple Grove.  Mortenson was not impaired by alcohol, according to the patrol.  He was not injured.

The semi-driver was identified as Scott Allan Sondag, 35, of Winthrop.

The crash happed at about 6:15 p.m.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family with expenses.

**This article was updated from a previous version that listed the victim’s age as eight years old.