A man from Ballwin is asking city officials in Ellisville to act in response to an incident last month where his wife, Linda Gebhardt, was seriously injured by a deer.

The incident occurred on Jan. 10, when Linda Gebhardt, 53, walked out of her car while parked at Arvin Auto Service in order to pick up another vehicle. Shortly after exiting her car, Gebhardt was rammed by a deer, sending her to the ground and causing injuries that included brain trauma and resulted in hospitalization for 7 days. During that time, Gebhardt also underwent surgery wherein doctors removed a portion of her brain's temporal lobe, in addition to part of her skull.

Jerry Gebhardt said the “bone flap” doctors removed was triangular and approximately 1.5 inches per side.

“She's definitely still resting and day-to-day,” Gebhardt, 57, said Monday. “She's got headaches constantly from the injury, and we don't think that's going to change.”

Gebhardt said his wife also is expected to soon return to the hospital for additional exams to determine if or when the bone flap doctors removed—a procedure intended to alleviate pressure on the brain due to swelling—should in fact be replaced.

“But the temporal lobe of the brain they removed has not affected her speech thus far, but that's all still to be determined,” Jerry Gebhardt said, adding that Linda will continue with speech therapy and various other treatments.

Jerry Gebhardt said that Linda does have health insurance as an employee of American Eagle Credit Union which he expects to cover “90 percent” of costs. With a week of hospitalization that included surgery, trauma care and intensive care treatment, however, Jerry Gebhardt said he still expects medical costs to reach a “high number.”

“But I don't care about the money,” said Gebhardt, who works for a window and door company. “All I care about is knowing she's alive. That was close. Real close. I mean, it was just unbelievable.”

Gebhardt said it likely will be at least five to six months before his wife returns to work.

He declined to say whether he would take action against the City of Ellisville, but was adamant that the city must respond to concerns over the city's deer population.

“The deer population has to be reduced. That's all there is to it,” Gebhardt said. “Anytime the Missouri Department of Conservation wants to see 22 deer in a square mile and they're seeing 55 (in Ellisville), that's ridiculous.”

Ellisville City Officials discussed at their last council meeting permitting managed hunts at Klamberg Woods under the Missouri Department of Conservation as one means of reducing the city's deer population.

Gebhardt said that whether the city takes further action to reduce the local deer population may depend on how much public attention the issue receives, especially if a future deer encounter is fatal.

“That's what it's going to take, and then someone's going to wake up. I've been saying it for years.”

“They're not a pet,” Gebhardt said. “They're not a dog. They're wild, and it's time to do something about it.”