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Close call for local dad

A young family is reaching out for love and support of the community in the wake of an accident.
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Jordan Hugh

A young family is reaching out for the love and support of the community in the wake of an accident.

Two weeks ago, Jordan Hugh, 29, suffered a fall at work that resulted in a head injury and a fracture in his neck.

He was installing siding at a home in West Vancouver when he slipped and fell, landing head first on a rock.

The father of two young boys was rushed to Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, where he needed 50 stitches to patch him up.

A loving and kind-hearted father, Jordan is in a great deal of pain because the injury has caused massive swelling to his head. He has also fractured his C7 vertebrae, putting his spinal chord potentially at risk.

He initially lost some sensation in his hands and feet, but soon regained it, to his family’s immense relief. However, he must be careful as the swelling subsides.

“He can’t even lift a two-litre bottle of milk,” his wife Jessica, 26, said a few days after Jordan was released from hospital.

Jessica says the family is going to need a lot of support while he heals; her husband faces a long recovery. It will be awhile before he can return to work or resume other activities.

“Jordan is going to need your uplifting words, a visit every now and again, and some home cooked meals,” she wrote on a Facebook Page she set up immediately after the accident.

Called The Jordan Project, the page is means of positive outreach to help deal with the aftermath of accident and to offer her husband support.

The page has acted as a communications hub, allowing family and friends to remain in contact, reading updates on Jordan’s progress and enabling them to channel their efforts at assisting the family.

“It effects a whole community of people,” she explained, adding, “We thank God every day that he’s alive.”

Last week, a close friend set up an account on behalf of the Hughs on Meal Train, a website that helps friends and family cook and take meals to friends dealing with stressful events like surgery or illness. They can sign up for days and meal times they want to help out.

The family is grateful for the overwhelming show of support, Jessica says.

“It’s just amazing.”

A fundraising website is in the works, along with plans to hold a fundraising event at the Town Hall Pub in Langley.

Meanwhile, Jessica is keeping busy looking after the couple’s young sons – Dallas, 2, and Kylar, 5 and a half, who entered Grade 1 at Hazelgrove Elementary Tuesday.

Knowing the already devastating accident could have turned out much worse, the Hughs want to remind people of the importance of a safe working environment. Jessica says her husband is the sort of man who is always looking out for others, and going the extra mile.

In light of his accident, he’s intent on sharing the reminder that construction workers should always wear their hard hat and harness on every job site and to refuse unsafe work, Jessica says.

“You’ve got family who wants you home at the end of the day.”