By Matt Gade

605 Sports

WALL — Just days before the start of fall practice, Garrett Bryan got devastating news. 

His 24-year-old daughter was severely burned in a cabin explosion near Deadwood.

Bryan, the finance director for the City of Wall, is an assistant coach for the Eagles football team, working with the linemen. 

Bryan’s daughter, Ruth Baus, suffered burns across nearly 50% of her body in an explosion on Friday, Aug. 1, where she was taken to Deadwood and then Spearfish for care.

“From Spearfish, she was life-flighted to one of the best burn units in the country—Regions Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota,” according to a GoFundMe page set up for Baus.

For Bryan, it meant he had to be with his daughter and son-in-law, Cale, in St. Paul, which also meant he wouldn’t be around for the Eagles.

“First and foremost, the same thing we tell our guys, is the same thing we tell our coaches — it's family first,” Wall head coach Lex Heathershaw said of Bryan missing out on the Eagles practice.

“We tell our guys, faith, family, then football,” Heathershaw said. “Once, when Garrett got back, we just welcomed him back with open arms. Because we're with each other for four months, you know, I mean, it's like we're all brothers, so when one guy goes down, you just gotta have his back and make sure you're there for him, because we know Garrett would do the same thing for us.”

The same day the Eagles were starting practice, Baus was having her first of several surgeries. 

It was extremely stressful for Bryan and the family in the early days to know Baus would recover, Bryan said.

Baus was also 17 weeks pregnant at the time of the explosion, but the baby is in good health, according to Bryan.

“It's a girl. Yep, we're, we're excited,” Bryan said. “I actually talked to the doctor, and kind of shook him down, because they weren't telling us much about (the baby). And I said, ‘Look, you're looking at the guy that's really excited to be a grandpa. I need to know what's going on. Because I, you know, I got to be prepared if something wasn't right, I got to prepare to tell her,’ you know.”

This will be Bryan’s first grandchild.

Bryan returned for the second week of practice and was grateful for the coaches help to fill in and welcome him back right away.

“Nate Kleinschmit helped us out and filled in for me. And we've been a team together after that, coaching the lines.”

Bryan said the way the city of Wall, the football team, his coworkers and others have shown support has been “humbling.”

“The community, just, all communities, have gathered and rallied around Ruth and Cale, you know,” Bryan said. “They've donated money and all kinds of stuff to support her. And people have helped us go, to be able to drive down there and see her. It's been a rough deal, but she's, she's doing really well.”

Following the Eagles’ 54-0 win over New Underwood last Friday night, Bryan said he’s excited for her to get out of the hospital and “hopefully she'll be able to come home next week.”

Bryan said the community support, not just from Wall, but all over, has been incredible.

When the Eagles hosted the Kadoka Area Kougars in their week 3 matchup, Wall and Kadoka people came out for a Free Will Tailgate Supper for Baus.

“Chad (Eisenbraun) and I were teammates in high school and won a championship together in '94, so it was great to just see everybody come together,” Bryan said of the Kougars head coach and the community supper. “The community and the people are praying. I mean, we got people praying all the way in New York and we get phone calls, and the boys break down to Ruth's name every once in a while, you know if they know she's gonna have a surgery or something.” 

At 4-0, the Eagles have this week off as Bryan is hoping to welcome his daughter back to her home in Lead, where she and Cale reside.

“They live in Lead, and everything's so steep there. So we went up and built new stairs so she can get up and down there easier, but she's getting along really well and walking and everything,” Bryan said. “Overall, she's doing really good. Really, really excited for them to come home.”

Ruth and Cale Baus (GoFundMe Page)