A Dallas-area mother suffered a severe spinal cord injury after a tree owned by the chairman of the Texas Tree Foundation fell onto her car on Monday.
Maisie Evans, 32, was injured when the tree fell onto her Porsche SUV. She suffered a severe spinal cord injury and is currently collecting funds for her medical treatment through a GoFundMe.
Evans is being treated in a neurological intensive care unit, according to Fox 4 News.
“Maisie is the devoted mother of a 6-month-old baby girl. This accident has not only turned her world upside down but also created an unimaginable challenge for her family,” a GoFundMe note says. “The road ahead will be long and uncertain.”
The tree was on the property of Dan Patterson, who is the chairman of the Texas Tree Foundation.
He told Fox 4 that he felt terrible about Evans’ injury and said he believed that rain and an accumulation of nuts on the tree caused its weight to shift and bring the tree down.
“As a tree guy, I can tell you what I believe happened. When you have a lot of rain in the spring, you have an oak tree or pecan tree or any tree with nuts, it grows a lot of nuts, and they swell up, and it adds a lot of weight to the upper regions of the tree,” he told the outlet. “That was probably the culprit that caused the problem.”
Patterson insisted that the “tree was in no way compromised.”
“I don’t know there is any way to avoid random acts like this,” he told the outlet.
Steve Houser, an arborist who spoke to Fox 4, said that you can never fully eliminate the possibility of a tree collapsing seemingly out of nowhere.
“I wish we could say that we can prevent this from ever happening again,” he told the outlet.
The GoFundMe for Evans is seeking to raise money for her medical and rehabilitation bills, for mobility equipment and care support, and to help care for her infant.
“Her survival is truly a miracle,” the GoFundMe says. “Any donation, or simply sharing this campaign, will make a difference for Maisie’s family as they begin this journey together.”
