DIXON, Ill. -- A Dixon firefighter injured 2 weeks ago is expected to come home this week, the fire chief said.
Firefighter Andy Brooks has spent more than a week at Van Matre HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockford after falling 12 feet while doing routine maintenance at the city station.
Brooks, 47, was on a hydraulic scissor lift when someone opened one of the overhead garage doors, knocking it over. He was taken to KSB Hospital then sent to Rockford.
Chief Tim Shipman expects it to be "quite some time" before Brooks, a firefighter and paramedic, can return to work. Brooks has been with the Dixon Fire Department for 20 years in November.
"I would anticipate that just rehabbing from a back surgery is going to be a slow process," Shipman said.
The department is looking into its options in case the recovery process turns into a long-term thing, he said. In the meantime, other firefighters are filling in on Brooks' shifts.
Copyright 2012 - Daily Gazette, Sterling, Ill.
McCLatchy-Tribune News Service
