Business
'I knew the farm needed me'
Member-owner Rebeckah Marschall shares her remarkable road to recovery after a car accident nearly took her life
When member-owner Rebeckah Marschall attended the Oct. 25, 2026, Vikings-Colts game at U.S. Bank Stadium as a featured guest, it was the latest chapter in a harrowing and inspiring story that began back in December 2022.
While driving to work the afternoon of Dec. 16, Rebeckah’s truck was t-boned on the highway. She sustained severe injuries, including a separation of her C1 vertebra from her skull.
“I was internally decapitated,” Rebeckah says. “Hardly anybody lives through that injury.”
First responders were quick to arrive and extract her from her truck — she credits this speedy response as the main reason she’s still alive — and got her to the emergency room as fast as possible.
While driving to work the afternoon of Dec. 16, Rebeckah’s truck was t-boned on the highway. She sustained severe injuries, including a separation of her C1 vertebra from her skull.
“I was internally decapitated,” Rebeckah says. “Hardly anybody lives through that injury.”
First responders were quick to arrive and extract her from her truck — she credits this speedy response as the main reason she’s still alive — and got her to the emergency room as fast as possible.
Immediately after Rebeckah's car accident, doctors weren't sure if she would survive, let alone ever return to farming. She had different plans. "I knew the farm needed me,” she says. “My goal was to come back to the farm as soon as I could.”
The surgeon who performed the operation to repair her severed spinal column had never done that procedure up to that point, and the chances of her surviving were slim. The doctor warned her family after the operation that even if she did survive, there were no guarantees on what her condition would be.
Miraculously, Rebeckah made it through.
“Waking up in the hospital, obviously you have no idea what's going on or where you're at,” she says. “I didn’t remember the accident, and to be honest, I didn’t even really feel a lot of pain.”
Initially, Rebeckah was paralyzed on the left side of her body. Doctors told her it would take months of physical therapy before she’d be able to begin doing normal activity. Returning to farmwork, they said, may never happen.
She had different plans.
“I knew the farm needed me,” she says. “My goal was to come back to the farm as soon as I could.”
She asked her physical therapists to push her beyond her limits, and she says they understood her determination and gave her what she needed — even if it was more than what she wanted in the moment.
Miraculously, Rebeckah made it through.
“Waking up in the hospital, obviously you have no idea what's going on or where you're at,” she says. “I didn’t remember the accident, and to be honest, I didn’t even really feel a lot of pain.”
Initially, Rebeckah was paralyzed on the left side of her body. Doctors told her it would take months of physical therapy before she’d be able to begin doing normal activity. Returning to farmwork, they said, may never happen.
She had different plans.
“I knew the farm needed me,” she says. “My goal was to come back to the farm as soon as I could.”
She asked her physical therapists to push her beyond her limits, and she says they understood her determination and gave her what she needed — even if it was more than what she wanted in the moment.
Despite the initial months-long recovery prognosis, Rebeckah was discharged from the hospital just short of five weeks after the accident. By mid-February, she was back doing farm work.
“I've been able to adapt to know my limits, ask for help and do things a little slower than I was prior to the accident,” Rebeckah says. “I’m just very fortunate in the opportunity to come back to the farm and to experience the life that I had before.”
While describing life since the accident as “normal” isn’t quite accurate, Rebeckah says she’s been able to do what she wants to do and continue to work with her dad, uncle and cousin on their farm in southeastern Minnesota with mostly no limitations.
In the nearly four years since the accident, Rebeckah has been enjoying every moment she can. And, in a rather poetic turn of events, as the fourth anniversary of her accident nears, she and her husband have something exciting to look forward to.
“We're expecting our first child in December of this year, so that's exciting,” Rebeckah says. “So that'll be our next challenge, trying to figure out how to do farm life and raise a family. So yeah, it's exciting for us.”
While describing life since the accident as “normal” isn’t quite accurate, Rebeckah says she’s been able to do what she wants to do and continue to work with her dad, uncle and cousin on their farm in southeastern Minnesota with mostly no limitations.
In the nearly four years since the accident, Rebeckah has been enjoying every moment she can. And, in a rather poetic turn of events, as the fourth anniversary of her accident nears, she and her husband have something exciting to look forward to.
“We're expecting our first child in December of this year, so that's exciting,” Rebeckah says. “So that'll be our next challenge, trying to figure out how to do farm life and raise a family. So yeah, it's exciting for us.”
In the nearly four years since the accident, Rebeckah has been enjoying every moment she can. And, in a rather poetic turn of events, as the fourth anniversary of her accident nears, she and her husband have something exciting to look forward to – the couple is expecting their first child in December.
As Rebeckah and her family were recognized on the field during the Vikings game Oct. 25, she says she hopes her story can help inspire people to take a moment to appreciate what they have and where they are in life.
"Even on the worst days, I just have to realize that I might not have been here today,” she says. “So even on my worst day, it's better to be here than not.”
"Even on the worst days, I just have to realize that I might not have been here today,” she says. “So even on my worst day, it's better to be here than not.”
