‘I thought I lost him’: Tree trimmer left paralyzed after a dead limb crushes him

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG/Gray News) - A tree trimmer in Ohio is now paralyzed following a freak accident last week.

Matt Thieman was crushed by a dead limb while helping his brother Tony Thieman, also a tree trimmer, clear it from their mother’s home.

“It happened so fast,” Tony Thieman said. “I ran up to him and I was trying to keep him calm, make sure he was still breathing. I thought I lost him.”

Matt Thieman was injured in the accident, but his sister, Heidi Franz, said they did not find out the extent of his injuries until Monday night.

“They went in and found out that it was a complete break, so, now, our little bit of hope was taken away,” Franz said.

They learned Matt Thieman was left completely paralyzed from the chest down. Now, Matt Thieman and his family must figure out a whole new way of life.

“Like what steps they’re going to have to take, and everything that they’re going to need,” Franz said.

Franz spoke publicly about what happened to her brother in hopes that it would remind people how precious life is.

“You understand that people out there have struggles but you don’t know until it hits home,” she said.

Franz and the rest of the Thieman family are asking the community for continued prayers. A GoFundMe has also been set up to help support the family.

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