The tree that was 2 1/2 feet in diameter and weighed more than a ton was supposed to fall in the street Saturday.
It didn’t.
Instead it fell backward toward a home at 1431 S. Saulsbury St. in Lakewood and on top of 51-year-old Calvin Ryberg of Bring it Down Tree Service in Littleton.
Ryberg’s pelvis was fractured and both his ankles were broken. But fortunately the tree didn’t rupture any of his internal organs, said his wife, Linda Ryberg.
“He’s a pretty tough customer,” Linda Ryberg said while awaiting new details from doctors at St. Anthony Central Hospital.
Calvin Ryberg had arrived at the Lakewood home early Saturday. He put a notch on the street side of the large tree so that when it fell it would go away from him.
But rot on the opposite side of the tree weakened the tree and caused it to topple on top of him, said Cindy Mathews, spokeswoman for West Metro Fire Rescue. Calvin Ryberg wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way.
His torso and thighs were pinned beneath the tree. That was at about 8:30 a.m., Mathews said.
Before firefighters arrived, neighbors used equipment to try to lift the tree off the man, but they were unable to do so, she said.
When firefighters arrived, they gave Calvin Ryberg medications. He was still conscious and spoke to firefighters.
The firefighters cut parts of the tree before jamming air bags that are normally used to lift vehicles beneath the tree and lifted it up enough to pull him out.
Linda Ryberg said her husband is “pretty broken up.”
In the late afternoon he had already undergone extensive surgery and it appeared he was going to have more, she said.
But she said that, given the circumstances, he was fortunate he didn’t have more serious, even life-threatening injuries. She was grateful for that.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
