Fallen Tree Leads to a Fractured Skull for Western Montana Man

Last Sunday, Tim and Luci Burns went into the woods near Florence, Montana, with their son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, just as they had done before as a family. It was time to top off the yearly wood supply.

But this trip ended in a far more frightening way than any of them could have anticipated. And what happened has left Tim, an experienced woodsman, in a condition for which is there is no way to know the eventual outcome at this point in time.

The tree that Tim Burns was cutting down ricocheted off of a smaller tree as it fell, hitting him in the right side of his head. The next hour was a blur for the family, as they were out of cell service range up in the mountains.

They were fortunate enough to wave down three good Samaritans who were able to contact emergency services through satellite capability on one of their phones. As a team, they did all they could to manage the emergency. But Tim was in bad shape and needed medical attention as soon as possible.

An attempted life flight helicopter rescue could not be conducted, due to the narrow, mountainous roads. After about an hour, fire and ambulance personnel, who the family described as amazing, arrived on the scene. They were able to get Tim into the ambulance

After roughly an hour, fire and rescue and an ambulance arrived on the scene after an attempt by life flight was made to land where we were, without success due to the narrow mountain roads. The emergency medical personnel were amazing, with the help of my incredible husband, and they were able to get Tim safely into the ambulance, then  transported him to an area where the helicopter could safely land and life flight him to a nearby hospital.

At the hospital, it was determined that Tim had suffered a skull fracture causing a brain bleed, a traumatic brain injury, as well as a broken clavicle. He spent two days in the ICU and has been in the hospital for the past week. While he is making progress, it could be a long road to recovery for him, with so many unknowns. An unexpected medical emergency such as this can have lasting effects emotionally, physically, and financially.

Tim is described by his daughter-in-law as one of the "warmest, most caring people I have ever known. He has been the world's greatest grandpa to our Rosalie, and it breaks my heart to see him suffer the way he is, as well as seeing the impact it has had on our young daughter as she tries to deal with her own emotions around all of this."

If your heart so moves you, you can visit the GoFundMe page set up for Tim Burns here.