Injured arborist is on the mend

SAGLE — A local arborist who took a hard fall from a cedar tree is recovering.

John Gaddess fell up to 35-40 feet after topping the cedar at Bottle Bay on Sept. 15. Gaddess said he fell neck first.

"It was bad. The doctors said, 'You're freaking lucky to be here right now,'" Gaddess said on Wednesday, after undergoing a round of physical therapy.

Gaddess is unsure how the mishap unfolded and has little memory of the fall itself. He had just topped the cedar, which was de-limbed in preparation for it to be felled.

"The slip line came off," Gaddess said. "It somehow became detached."

However, an inspection of his climbing and fall-prevention gear showed no signs of equipment failure.

Gaddess' wife, Maia, set up a fundraising account on GoFundMe.com to cope with the sudden loss of income and mounting medical bills.

"His lungs and brain were bleeding, and his collarbone, neck, back, and ribs are broken in many places," Maia Gaddess said in a post to the online fundraiser.

The Gaddess family was grateful and stunned by the outpouring of support from the community. The fundraiser collected $67,023, prompting them to disable the donation function after reaching the goal.

"The support was amazing. Half of them we don't know — maybe more," John Gaddess said of donors who kicked in on the campaign.

John Gaddess underwent back surgery and surgery to repair his damaged clavicle. However, he is ambulatory and easing back into physical normalcy.

"For what happened: A, I'm lucky to be alive and; B, I have no paralysis," John Gaddess said.

John Gaddess said he plans to remain in the field of aboriculture, although it remains unclear if he will be able to continue scaling trees.

"I just don't know if I'll be able to climb," John Gaddess said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.

Editor's note: This story was update to correct the spelling of a surname.