An Orange County firefighter who suffered a spinal cord injury in a September freeway crash was released from a rehabilitation facility in Colorado on Friday.
Firefighter Andrew Brown, who feared permanent disability when his crew's truck crashed while returning from a wildfire, stepped off a plane at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana to cheers from family and other firefighters.
“I was really worried if I was going to be able to walk again or move my arms again,” Brown told KTLA-TV following nearly two months of treatment at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., which specializes in treating people with brain and spinal cord injuries. injury.
After nearly two months of relearning the use of his arms and legs, Orange County firefighter Andrew Brown returned home. Brown was one of eight OCFA workers hospitalized on Sept. 19 after their truck overturned while on their way home from fighting a fire at the airport. “I thought I was going to die in that ambulance,” Brown said.
(KTLA-TV)
Brown was one of eight members of the Orange County Fire Authority's Santiago Hand Crew injured in the Sept. 18 crash on State Route 241 in Irvine. Firefighters were on their way home from an Airport fire shift, the massive fire that started in Trabuco Canyon burned thousands of acres in Orange and Riverside.
With Brown's release, only one firefighter remains at the medical center. The man, whose family have asked not to be identified publicly, is also being treated at Craig Hospital.
A ladder that fell on another car caused an accident. The truck driver swerved around the ladder which resulted in the truck hitting the guard and overturning.
Brown told KTLA that he doesn't remember what happened when the truck started tipping over until he was out of the vehicle and was seriously injured.
“I thought I was going to die in the ambulance,” he told the station, adding, “I was scared — I was just praying that God would take care of my wife, who is pregnant, and that was my biggest concern. That's all I could think about when I got into the ambulance.”
He said he was told in the intensive care unit to expect him to be bedridden for months. But in early October, the doctors felt strong enough to travel to Colorado on a gurney for his recovery. A group of firefighters escorted him to the airport.
In Colorado, he had to relearn how to use his arms and legs. He said it was difficult but he had strong motivation.
“I want to be able to support my wife and hold my daughter and play with her one day, throw her in the air,” he told KTLA.
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