Idaho man crushed by tree remains critical

Family and friends are rallying to support the recovery of a North Idaho man crushed by a tree in Tuesday’s windstorm.

Twin Lakes resident Jordan Simon, 22, remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Simon suffered spinal injuries, five broken ribs and a punctured lung. Doctors told family members he may be partially paralyzed.

“We’re still really hoping for a full recovery,” said his mother, Missy Simon, a registered nurse. “At this time he still cannot feel below his chest. That’s frightening. Our goal for him is to regain his strength and walk again.”

Jordan and a friend left the Simon family house in Twin Lakes about 5 p.m. Tuesday, with Jordan driving his friend’s pickup truck.

“I walked them to the door, and within five minutes this happened,” Missy Simon said.

The two were traveling on Twin Lakes Road when a tree fell on the truck, smashing the cab. Jordan took the brunt of the impact. His friend, Sheldon Cole-Kagele, 22, of Spokane Valley, suffered a concussion.

Neighbors and bystanders rushed to help. It took about 45 minutes to free Simon from the wreckage. He was taken first to Kootenai Health, then flown to the Seattle hospital that night.

Shortly after the tree hit the truck, two more large trees came down on three vehicles and a camper in the family’s yard. Jordan Simon’s car, parked at the home, was smashed, Missy Simon said.

She said her son was in surgery for six hours Wednesday and had rods and pins placed in his damaged vertebrae. Simon has been on a ventilator but was able to breathe on his own for 45 minutes Thursday, she said. He did not have a brain injury.

His parents, Missy and Rob, his brother and two sisters, and Cole-Kagele are with him at the hospital. Jordan Simon is a 2011 graduate of Timberlake High School and works at Mark’s Marine in Hayden.

A gofundme.com page to help the family with medical costs had raised about $8,000 by Thursday afternoon.