Minnetonka firefighter suffers severe brain injury during training

MINNETONKA, Minn. -- A Minnetonka firefighter went from fighting flames to fighting for his life after a freak accident during a training session last weekend.

Last Saturday, Tim Tripp suffered a severe head injury when he slipped and fell on the ice, hitting his head on the ground. The routine training session was being held at Spring Hill Park. 

"Tim's the kind of guy you are immediately friends with. When he walks in the room he makes everyone comfortable, he makes people laugh, his smile is ear to ear," Captain Kevin Hruby said.

Hruby said he first met Tripp was when Tripp joined the Minnetonka Fire Department as a part-time firefighter, 14 years ago. 

"Tim's a fantastic firefighter. He's very skilled and for this to happen to him, an accident like this, it could happen to anyone," he said. 

According to updates from his family, Tripp has been in intensive care since the fall and was placed in a medically-induced coma. 

"We go and we see a lot. But to see your own brother, your own loved one hurting like that, it's shocking," Hruby said.

Besides being a veteran firefighter, Hruby says Tripp also works in construction. 

"He's very hard working, he always has jobs going on, he's always trying to provide for his family," he said.

With a long and uncertain journey ahead, the fire department set up a fundraiser to support his family which includes three kids and his fiancé. 

"The city of Minnetonka is doing an amazing job to support him but it's a long road and he has to support his family and we are trying to do what we can to help."

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• CTE
• Minneapolis