A firefighter who fell 15 feet through a burning barn roof in Clare is recovering from several broken bones.
Sam Eberhart, 33, was battling a fire at the barn when he fell 15 feet onto a concrete floor.
"It was instant pain," Eberhart said. "It was the first time I had ever broken a bone. There was no comfort. No nothing. Just pain all around."
Eberhart fractured the front and back of his pelvis in three places. The injuries were complex enough that he was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, a Level I Trauma Center.
"Injuries like these can be limb- and life-threatening," Beaumont orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jason Sadowski said. "There could be bladder injuries and extreme blood loss."
Doctors said Eberhart's willingness and determination to do intense physical therapy exercises allowed him to avoid surgery.