Freak lawnmower accident leaves girl with 200 stitches down middle of face

(FOX NEWS) -- A 10-year-old girl is being lauded for her bravery as she continues to recover from a harrowing lawnmower accident that left her with a skull fracture and 200 stitches down her face.

Skylar Hedstrom, of Hoffman, Minn., was watching her dad cut the lawn June 9 when he ran over a tool, TwinCities.com reported.

The tool got caught in a blade, which detached from the machine and hit Skylar, leaving a gash deep enough to expose her skull.

“My wife came running up to me, waving her arms and screaming, pointing to [Skylar],” Brian Hedstrom told the outlet. “I jumped off, turned around and she was standing there, covered in blood. It was the scariest thing I’ve seen in my whole life.”

Hedstrom, who said he could see how deep his daughter’s gash was, immediately called 911. Skylar was transported to a hospital in Alexandria, where it was determined she needed a transfer to Sanford Medical Center Fargo for a more specialized pediatric neurologist and cranial doctor.

“The cranial doctor glued it back together,” Hedstrom told TwinCities.com. “That’s what he told me. He said he glued it together.”

Hedstrom posted photos on Facebook of his daughter wrapped in gauze giving a thumbs up, and others of her smiling post-stitching.

“As I was in a dark ambulance on a 100 mile journey to Fargo I was trying to explain to her what a substantial facial scar may be like…she looks at me through starry eyes and said…‘Dad, it really doesn’t matter what people look like on the outside anyway,’” Hedstrom posted alongside the photos.

“I always tell her that I want her to be a better human than I am…I just checked that box," he said.

Hedstrom went on to thank Kensington Fire and Rescue, Douglas County Hospital staff, paramedics and staff at Sanford Medical Center Fargo.