Anchorage Daily News

PALMER -- Joel Stefanski, a guy known for rescuing things stuck in trees, is in the middle of the biggest rescue of his life.

Joel, a longtime Alaska State Fair volunteer, fell 21 feet on Aug. 2 while replacing poles used in the lumberjack show. The owner of Valley Tree Service and a clearing foreman for Matanuska Electric Association for the past 19 years, Joel is a professional at scaling heights most people avoid. But his experience didn't save him when the base of the pole he was climbing snapped and he plummeted to the ground.

His hip and pelvis were shattered, prompting a transfer from Mat-Su Regional Medical Center to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he's endured several surgeries to repair his bones.

Three weeks after the accident, he's still not out of the woods, his wife, Mindy, said from Seattle. So far, he has lost 30 pounds and surgeons have held off repairing his hip due to a tear in a vein in his pelvis. In one surgery, Joel bled so much his body lost 39 pints of blood. Mindy said doctors want to avoid causing additional bleeding and are weighing the risks of another surgery.

"If they're not able to do surgery to finish the repair, the option is to leave him in traction, and he'd have to deal with however the bones heal," Mindy said.

Doctors have told her it can take a month or two for the vein to heal on its own. If the hip isn't repaired, Joel may have mobility issues due to improperly fused bones.

It's a tough prognosis for a man who avoids sitting still. According to those who know him, Joel is a person of prodigious energy. His two jobs keep him well off the ground. Mindy said her husband is known for rescuing everything from cats to iguanas that get stuck in trees. Last Christmas, he was called to rescue an eagle that had impaled itself on a cottonwood branch in Peters Creek.

Barbara Gerard, the principal of Academy Charter School where the Stefanskis' two teenage children attended for several years, said Joel is "the most kindhearted, helpful, giving person I can think of."

He volunteered as the school's cross-country and track coach; he and Mindy attended all work days, Gerard said, and were the first to show up and the last to leave.

In 2004, he and his family were named the Alaska State Fair's volunteers of the year for their efforts organizing the Homesteader Games events.

Mindy calls Joel her "Superman" and holds that image of her husband in her mind as he lies, sometimes befuddled from pain drugs, in his hospital bed. She's been chronicling the saga since the beginning on CaringBridge.org, a nonprofit Web site for families in crisis.

Her blog has attracted nearly 5,000 hits. Mindy said she's heard from people she's never met who say they're praying for her husband.

"We definitely feel it; it's so appreciated," she said.

While the couple waits on the doctors' decision, Mindy worries about the looming financial storm. The family is suddenly without income. Joel is burning through his leave time at MEA. They're paying $70 a night for an apartment near the hospital. They're consuming air miles as family commutes from Alaska.

She tries not to think about all that, to focus on getting Joel better and keeping up her own spirits. Lately that's been a challenge. Due to an infection from all the packing used to stem the bleeding, he is in isolation. Digestive problems have kept him on a feeding tube, and she's watched his muscles melt away. His left leg still has open wounds called "fasciotomies" to relieve the swelling. She called life right now "a mini-tornado; things just keep flying up in our faces."

In a month or so, when Joel is able to come home, Mindy plans on calling in all the help offered so far. She knows she'll need it during her husband's recovery. A couple decades of marriage lead her to believe Joel won't be the most patient patient.

"My mantra is I can get through this, but when we get back to Palmer, your phone will be ringing," she said.

HELP JOEL: The fair will donate $2 for every daily admission between 2 and 10 p.m. Tuesday to the Joel Stefanski Fund. A donation box also will be near the Woodlot Stage. A benefit account is at the Mat Valley Federal Credit Union, No. 125043.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/joelstefanski