Injured tree trimmer in coma; his girlfriend asks for prayers

A Yuma woman is asking the community to continue praying for her boyfriend, who was rescued by Yuma firefighters Wednesday morning after he became pinned by branches from the palm tree he had been trimming.

“He is a really good person with a heart of gold,” said a tearful Janice Stout. “He is not doing very good, and I’m so lost right now.”

Stout identified the man as 45-year-old Kris Smith, saying they have been together for the past seven years.

“He has been trimming trees for 10 years,” she said. “This was such a freak accident.”

According to the Yuma Fire Department, shortly before noon firefighters were dispatched to the 2200 block of West 20th Street for a report of a man stuck in a palm tree.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a man trapped in the canopy of a palm tree approximately 30 feet above the ground.

Firefighters quickly put a large ladder on the roof of the home, against the side of the tree, and sent paramedics up to assess the

man’s condition and begin providing medical care.

Other firefighters, who also went up the ladder, worked to cut a large amount of palm fronds away so they could rescue the man.

Firefighters were able to safely remove the man using the bucket on an aerial ladder truck that can extend up to 100 feet. He was then transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center.

“By the time the firefighters got him down from the tree, he had stopped breathing and his heart was not beating,” Smith said. “The guy who was spotting for him climbed the tree to try and help him but couldn’t, so he called 9-1-1.”

Stout said paramedics were able to revive Smith on the way to YRMC and that he was put in a medically-induced coma. His body was also being chilled in an attempt to prevent any brain damage.

She also said that doctors will raise his body temperature on Friday so they can perform an MRI to determine how intensive any brain damage may have been.

“We need everybody’s prayers,” Stout said. “We are all keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.”