Judge falls off roof, judicial system doesn't miss a beat

Havre City Judge Virginia Seigel presided in court Thursday with a cast on her right foot and another wrapped around her right arm, a result of her falling off her roof early this month.

Seigel had wrist surgery after her fall, an operation which included having stainless steel inserted where her wrist was shattered. But despite her accident and her surgery, the city court judicial system didn't miss a beat, she said.

She remembers exactly when she fell off her roof.

"July 1st at 3:30 p.m. The day will live in infamy in my memory till the day I die," she said, raising her right fist, the one enveloped in a cast, in the air.

Seigel has been the city judge since Jan. 1, 2014. She easily remembered that date, too.

The Seigel's roof needed a major overhaul. On top of being old, Seigel said, the 2015 Fourth of July hailstorm gave the already-fragile roof such a beating that it began to leak a little.

Although she's not a professional roofer, Seigel said she welcomes a challenge and loves to learn new things. As a 14-year Army veteran who flew helicopters, she's no stranger to challenges.

She didn't go into the project without technical consultation.

She consulted with a friend, who's a roofer, before diving into the task, and her son-in-law, who is also a roofer, worked with her.

The fall happened day five of the project.

"I'd been up on my roof all week long - no problems, enjoying myself immensely. I was walking backwards, and I did just not realize how close I was to the edge," she said. "And I just scooted back a little bit, not very much - and I was out of roof."

Seigel remembers her exact thoughts.

"On the way down I was chiding myself - 'I cannot believe I just did that. That might be one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life,'" she said.

Virginia and husband Scott Seigel's home is a one-story house. She said she was about halfway from the apex of the roof before stepping off and estimated the drop anywhere between 15 to 20 feet.

Although she said she can't confirm it to be true, her son-in-law told her that he saw her hit her head on the concrete pad when she landed. She doesn't think she lost consciousness, but she does remember opening her eyes and her son-in-law hovering over her, Seigel said. She did not suffer any head injuries.

She said, after landing and opening her eyes she told her son-in-law to pray for her, as she did the same.

"I prayed - I just prayed, and I glorified God, because that's just one of my life lessons," she said. "In a crisis, you worship."

Seigel said she got up and walked around. She asked her son-in-law if he thought they could finish the roof, to which he resoundingly insisted she was in shock and that she be taken to the emergency room right away. Her daughter also arrived on the scene, pointing out the swelling on her wrist and foot.

By the time she was carried in the emergency room by her son-in-law, she felt every working nerve in her wrist and foot.

"It's very intense, right at the point of impact, and it was just excruciating - stabbing, throbbing pain. (My foot) just folded up on itself. The top of my foot went all the way to my shin," she said.

Seigel praised the staff and Northern Montana Hospital and at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, where she had her wrist surgery.  She said that, from the receptionists to the orthopedics to the nurses, everyone was amazing.

As for the Havre city court judicial system, the wheels of justice continued to spin uninterrupted. Her officers court administrator Cathy Lee and her assistant clerk Tyson Bliwernitz picked up the slack they were allowed to do and she came in, before surgery and held court in a wheelchair. Meanwhile, everyone else made adjustments.

"They were just amazing, how everybody was working together, from officers of the court, to all the medical people accommodating my court schedule, the court officers accommodating my medical schedule - it's just a heroic effort to make sure it was as seamless and uninterrupted as possible," she said. "The process that my absence does not impede the process of justice in the city of Havre."

Her experience reinforced Havre's mantra.

"What do we say is great about Havre? It's the people. Havre has it - its treasure is its people," she said.

Her church family at Abundant Life Ministries also came through.

As soon as she got home, she said members of her church started bringing food, wheelchairs – not one, but two wheelchairs were donated – canes, wellness supplements, cards, flowers and even an ice machine made for athletes. Her big sister in Colorado took a break from training horses and came to Havre to take care of her.

Seigel praised a lot of people, but she especially lauded Lee and Bliwernitz, whom she referred to as "high caliber" professionals and considered herself fortunate to be working with.

The accident will not deter her from future high-risk activities.

"Are you kidding me? No way. ... It's like getting bucked off a horse - you think I'm not going to get back on and ride? They obviously don't know my personality," she said.

She added that a major reason she got stainless steel in her wrist - "Metal detectors are not going to like me anymore" - is precisely because she plans on remaining active and opted for strength over mobility. Kayaking, canoeing, hiking, camping, hunting, bow hunting and parachuting are all activities she plans on doing, or continuing to do.

However, in the future, she said, she plans to "explore all safety equipment and employ that appropriately," referring to a roofing harness.

There was a morose moment when she mentioned another roofing accident in Havre.

She mentioned Bob Keeler, a Havre community member who fell off his roof after she fell off hers, but didn't survive.

"My heart breaks for his family. I almost have a little bit of guilt, like survivor guilt. 'That could've been me,'" she said.

Seigel said she hopes she has done her job as a judge in a way that the incident wouldn't change anything.

"I hope that, as a judge, I've always expressed my high regards for the community. There shouldn't be a change," she said. "Hopefully, I have treated everyone the same way before I was stunned by the kindness, compassion, the experience, the expertise - just the tremendous caliber of individuals that I'm surrounded by in my community."