Firefighter feared being paralyzed after suffering serious injury while cleaning up storm damage

A volunteer firefighter from Greene County says he hopes to be out of the hospital soon after suffering a serious injury on the job.

Firefighters with the Cedarville Twp. Volunteer Fire Department responded to calls after storms hit Sunday, leaving damage behind.

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“Cedarville got hit pretty hard,” Chief Kyle Miller said. “We were called out on multiple utility calls for lines down and trees down.”

One of those call was a tree that fell and got tangled in utility lines. Miller responded to that call with Lieutenant Luke Sorensen.

“Part of our job of protecting citizens is we’ll go on utility hazards,” Sorensen said.

As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00 , Sorensen spoke to News Center 7′s John Bedell about what happened from his hospital room.

“The tree that was leaning on the cable twisted, bounced off, and sling-shotted onto my back,” Sorensen explained. “Like, [a] heat-seeking missile type thing.”

Sorensen said he was bent over and didn’t have time to react. Right away, he said he knew he had broken his back and he feared he was paralyzed.

“I was like, ‘I can’t feel my feet. I can’t feel my hands,’” he said.

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Thankfully, all his sensations have returned. He’s even started sitting up, standing, and walking again.

It turns out that being bent over on Sunday prevented the tree from hitting his head.

“Chief Miller said if I was standing, I probably wouldn’t be alive right now. So praise the Lord that’s not the case,” Sorensen said.

Now, he’s leaning on his faith as he works to get back on his feet.

“It’s like having two oak trees up, right? God is sovereign. God is good. You can rest on that. So hang up your hammock and just lie on that hammock. And so that’s what I’m doing, man. I’m lying, like here, in my hammock between God’s sovereignty and goodness,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen said he hopes to be able to go home Thursday or Friday. From there, he’ll work to eventually get back to work as a firefighter.