FORNEY, Texas — A Forney Fire Department firefighter was injured in an off-duty fall earlier this month and is expected to be out of work for several months for rehabilitation and recovery.
FORNEY, Texas — A Forney Fire Department firefighter was injured in an off-duty fall earlier this month and is expected to be out of work for several months for rehabilitation and recovery.
Firefighter Jason Jacobs was off-duty on a second job removing Christmas lights on January 6, 2015, when he fell from the top of a 16-foot ladder — breaking both his elbows, his right ankle, his left wrist, and hyper-extending a toe.
“The ladder was going and I was going with it,” Jacobs described the fall. “Everyone keeps telling me it was a miracle I didn’t hit my head.” Jacobs fell and landed flat on his stomach with a majority of the impact on his elbows.
Jacobs required surgery on his toe which sustained several torn ligaments as well as his ankle which required several surgical screws to be placed in it. His left hand was in a cast from his wrist to his elbow and his right arm was in a sling.
After more than seven days in the hospital and 10 days in an in-patient rehabilitation facility, Jacobs says the toughest thing was having to tell his 2-year-old daughter “no” when she asked “Daddy, can you hold me?”
“I had to tell her no,” said Jacobs. “The doctors told me this is broke, this is broke, and this is broke. They said I couldn’t hold or pick anything up for a couple of weeks.”
Jacobs will go back to the hospital for several follow-up appointments including an examination of his elbows and wrist to determine if they are healing on their own or will require additional surgery. Best case scenario, Jacob says he can return to work in four months.
“Our family has helped out big time,” said Jacobs whose wife, Morgan, also took several weeks of work off to assist him. Jacobs said he has vacation days through the department but he is quickly burning through them.
Because Jacobs will be out of work for several months and his insurance policy does not cover all his medical expenses, a benefit fund has been established at GoFundMe.com to assist him and his family until he can get back to work and on his feet.
As for the Christmas lights, fellow Forney firefighters pitched in and removed the remaining lights from Jacobs’ customers’ homes in the Forney and Heath, Texas, area.
“There is a lot of physical therapy and a lot of hard work ahead,” said Jacobs.
To assist the Jacobs family, visit their GoFundMe.com account.
