Many would say a Karns City man is lucky to be alive, much less up and walking, after a 20-foot free fall, but his family attributes his condition to the power of prayer.

Don Glasgow of Oakland Township needed to retrieve a tree stand from his sister’s place on Pine Tract Road in Center Township on Feb. 18 because the property was about to be sold.

But due to a recent shoulder surgery, Glasgow had to ask his son, Corey, 33, to climb the tree and get the tree stand.

“My arm was in a sling and I couldn’t help,” Glasgow said.

As Corey worked to release the stand from the tree, a strap that holds the seat onto the tree gave way, and Don Glasgow watched in horror as his son plummeted 20 feet to the ground.

LuAnn Glasgow, Corey’s mom, said her son landed feet first and crumpled to the ground, ending up on his side in terrific pain.

LuAnn was babysitting her daughter’s son in Ellwood City when she received the call from her husband that Corey had fallen.

Don called 911, and several fire departments and emergency medical personnel arrived immediately.

“I made sure he didn’t move until they got there,” Don said.

Because the tree was in the woods 150 yards from the property’s driveway, responders had to use a utility vehicle, known as a side-by-side, to get Corey out of the woods.

First, they immobilized him on a backboard, then loaded him onto the UTV for the careful drive out of the woods.

Initially, responders planned to transport Corey to Butler Memorial Hospital for evaluation, then expected him to be flown from there to a Pittsburgh trauma center for further treatment.

Instead, they drove Corey to the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport for a helicopter ride to Pittsburgh due to the apparent severity of his injuries.

But because of the overcast, cold weather, LifeFlight was unable to safely put the chopper in the air.

So, the flight crew chief rode in the ambulance with Corey and the emergency medical personnel to Allegheny General Hospital, where Corey would spend the entire day getting tests and imaging, so doctors could determine their next course of action.

LuAnn left her grandson with her daughter, picked up her husband, and headed to Allegheny General.

The couple arrived just a few minutes after the ambulance carrying Corey.

LuAnn, who is a nurse, remembers thinking one thing over and over as Corey was evaluated in the emergency department.

“I was very, very thankful that he had movement and feeling in his legs,” she said.

Don remembers feeling relieved when Corey finally received some strong medicine to ease his immense pain.

That evening, the surgeon and his team wheeled Corey into the operating room for a three-hour surgery on his battered low back.

“He has two titanium rods and six screws in his back,” Don said, “and a 10- to 12-inch incision.”

“After the surgery, the surgeon said it was worse than he thought and that 96% of the people who have that kind of injury are paralyzed,” LuAnn said.

After a short time in the intensive care unit, Corey was fitted with a brace and told he would be getting out of bed with assistance.

LuAnn recalls that Corey was leery of trying to walk the first time.

“Once he got past that, he just started walking,” she said.

Corey spent six days at Allegheny General, then a week at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital at Harmarville before temporarily moving in with his parents last Thursday.

His mother said the family is grateful for everyone who helped Corey, from the first responders to the LifeFlight crew to the surgeon and care team at Allegheny General to the physical therapists in Harmarville.

“God had a hand in this whole thing,” LuAnn said.

“We had so many people praying for him,” said Don.

Corey must wear his back brace anytime he is walking or sitting until he has his follow-up visit with the surgeon, who will likely prescribe physical therapy.

He got his staples out Friday by a physician’s assistant at Allegheny General.

“They were pretty amazed at how he was doing,” LuAnn said.

The surgeon said Corey would not be able to return to his job at Cleveland-Cliffs for six months and will be in a brace for three months.

LuAnn said friends and family have brought food and provided moral support since Corey’s accident, which she and Don greatly appreciate.

“I’m mainly thankful to God too, though, that everything worked out,” she said. “I feel very blessed that it ended up this way.”