One day Courtney Godfrey’s foot gets essentially chopped off by a motorboat propeller, and a week later she’s excited about the possibility of making something great out of it.
Welcome to the life of Godfrey, a 30-year-old reporter with Fox 9/KMSP-TV who says she’s refusing to let a horrific accident get her down.
On Sept. 15, Godfrey was thrown from a boat during an otherwise glorious day of wakeboarding and water skiing with family on Christmas Lake in Hennepin County. Her left foot was struck by the boat’s propeller.
Before the surgery that would eventually leave her lower leg amputated about mid-calf, she told doctors: “Please, if you could, save my foot. I love shoes, and I want to be able to wear two shoes!”
This week, she publicly shared pictures of herself recovering, describing her status on Facebook as “a new chapter.”
In a phone interview from her home in Minneapolis this week, she spoke — energetically, for about 45 minutes — about the accident and her newfound identity as an amputee.
‘FREAK ACCIDENT’
On the afternoon of Sept. 15, Godfrey had just finished wakeboarding with her husband, Ryan Novaczyk, and several other family members on Christmas Lake in Chanhassen, as they had countless times. (An important clarification in the Godfrey-Novaczyk clan: Godfrey, a California native, is a boarder — wakeboards and snowboards — while Novaczyk, a Minnesota native, is a skier — water skis and downhill skis.)
Godfrey hopped aboard the boat and took off her life jacket as Novaczyk piloted a course for shore. Novaczyk made a sharp turn, and in an instant, Godfrey lost her purchase and was flung overboard.
“I remember everything, even though it doesn’t really make a lot of sense because it was so disorienting,” she said. “I was underwater and tumbling around. I felt my foot hit something. I remember I thought my foot hit the bottom of the lake, which doesn’t make any sense because it was too deep, but I was so disoriented. I thought maybe I had broken my foot.”
When she caught her bearings, she was underwater, staring up at the hull and its inboard motor. Thankfully, Godfrey had a lungful of air, and she’s fit; Novacyk and she exercise and enter charitable triathlons. So she held her breath.
“I knew I had to stay down, so I treaded water backwards to stay away from the boat,” she said.
While safety advocates uniformly urge wearing life jackets whenever a motorboat is underway, Godfrey said she doesn’t second-guess her decision to remove hers moments earlier. To the contrary.
“I’m grateful for that. I think I would have floated up right into the boat. Things could’ve been much worse,” she said.
Novaczyk killed the motor the instant Godfrey went overboard, and when she surfaced — well clear of the boat — everyone aboard was leaning over the gunwales looking for her. She was quickly hoisted on board.
“When I came up, that’s when I looked, and basically my foot was gone,” she said. “It was gnarly.”
Her younger sister, Kelly Roberson, a registered nurse, quickly tended to the wound, using the boat’s tow rope to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Godfrey thinks it was a crucial move that saved her from losing a lot of blood. “She’s always been my sister and friend,” Godfrey said. “Now, she’s my hero.”
Paramedics were already onshore to drive Godfrey to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Novaczyk was arrested, gave the Hennepin County sheriff’s office a sample to test for alcohol or drugs, and released. The case remains open while results are pending, a sheriff’s office spokesman said. Novaczyk has not been charged with any crime.
Godfrey said the family has no concerns over that. “Alcohol wasn’t a factor. It was just a freak accident,” she said.
AMPUTEE COMMUNITY
Godfrey hadn’t realized it, but the moment she was wheeled out of surgery, she became the newest member of a vibrant community: amputees.
“You have no idea — I had no idea,” she said. “Minneapolis has such a great, huge amputee community, and they came out of the woodwork to welcome me.”
Strangers stopped by her room. A Paralympian drove from St. Cloud to visit. A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing called. Their inspiring collective message: Your life is far from over.
And she learned of a group called Wiggle Your Toes.
Founded by a Twin Cities amputee, the Wiggle Your Toes Foundation tries to help amputees regain their mobility and “live life to its fullest.”
“Wiggle Your Toes has been amazing,” Godfrey said. “They came to my house, walked through it, and brought somebody in to install handles where I would need them and adjust railings, even the shower door. All this was already done by the time I went home.”
After a week at HCMC, she returned home, confined largely to the sofa while she continues to recover.
The time has not been without reflection.
“As a reporter, I’m usually the one listening to the (police) scanner call, standing on shore, telling people about the horrible accident,” she said. “Now, I’m on the other side. It’s different.”
And there’s her relationship with her husband. It was only in November that they got married, and she said the mishap was a rude reckoning for a couple still feeling like honeymooners.
“That vow — till death do us part — I’m watching that play out in real life right now. I could’ve lost my life, but I didn’t, and he’s been right here by my side,” Godfrey said.
The contributions of Novaczyk, who works in the health care industry, have ranged from the long bedside hours to wearing a wardrobe of San Francisco 49ers jerseys as a show of solidarity for the favorite team — hers (not his).
‘I’VE CHOSEN POSITIVITY’
Godfrey wants to return to work “as soon as I can.” Her voice exudes not duty, but eagerness.
“I’ve chosen positivity,” she said. “You can let this bring you down and take you into a deep depression, or you can try to find the good in it. I’m choosing the latter because, I don’t know, I’ve always been positive.”
It’s unclear when viewers will see Godfrey on air again, but one thing is clear: She won’t just return to work and settle into her old career.
“I want to be an inspiration for little girls and boys who’ve just lost a limb,” she said. “I can walk into their hospital room and say, ‘Your life is not over.’
“God has put something in front of me that totally sucks, but I will find something great in this. I don’t know what it will look like yet, but I will find it.”
