Grandma Paralyzed After Freak Dunk Tank Accident During Family Outing

What should have been a fun summer outing turned into a life-changing tragedy for EMT Dena Suihkonen.

On July 6, Dena, 59, was enjoying the Breitung Township Picnic in Minnesota with her four grandchildren, ages 2 to 8. As part of the festivities, local public service representatives, including Dena herself, took turns in the dunk tank. After the police chief was dunked, Dena climbed in—but the day took a horrifying turn.

“I was dunked a couple of times before they were having issues, so they asked me to move,” Dena explains. As she shifted, the seat sprang up unexpectedly, tossing her more than six feet into the air before she crashed to the ground.

“My rear end hit the ground, and it ended up bursting my T12, which took out my spinal cord,” she says.

Though the crowd didn’t immediately realize the severity of her injuries, Dena, an EMT supervisor, knew right away this was serious. She instructed fellow first responders to call for a medical flight, explaining, “Because I can’t feel my legs.” Her husband, who had warned her against the dunk tank that day, ran to her side in terror.

Emergency responders quickly transported her to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, the region’s only Level 1 trauma center. There, scans revealed multiple spinal fractures, resulting in a T11 complete spinal cord injury. Dena underwent emergency spinal fusion surgery, spent a week in intensive care, and then more than 40 days in inpatient rehabilitation. She is now paralyzed from the waist down and managing long-term complications beyond the loss of mobility.

In an unexpected twist, scans also revealed multiple brain aneurysms unrelated to the accident, which she has begun treating through surgery.

“I went from extremely active to now I’m a paraplegic and learning new ways to be active,” Dena says. Beyond her physical recovery, she struggles with no longer being able to serve her community as a first responder. “Living in a small town, I knew my patients. It was helping people I cared about. Now I can’t be there to help.”

Dena’s home also poses challenges. She and her husband live in an older house on a 59-foot hill. “I can’t get upstairs to the bedrooms, and my kitchen isn’t set up for me to use. The house doesn’t really work for me now,” she says. The family has launched a GoFundMe, raising over $9,000 to help with accessibility modifications.

Dena has also retained a personal injury and workman’s comp attorney. The Tower city mayor and the nonprofit that provided the dunk tank have not commented on the incident, though the Breitung Township board of supervisors expressed their thoughts and prayers.

Despite everything, Dena is focusing on the positives—especially spending time with her family. She looks forward to Thanksgiving with her grandchildren, who witnessed the helicopter evacuation and are coping as best they can.

Her daughter, Gabby Gross, 27, praises her mother’s resilience. “We thought we were going to be the ones to help her cope, but she’s been our strength through it,” Gabby says. “Some days are really hard, but seeing her progress has been inspiring. She makes us all proud.”