Community rallies behind Andover man after he suffers a devastating fall on vacation
ANDOVER, Minn. — The Andover community is rallying behind a star athlete after he suffered a devastating fall while on vacation with his family in Mexico.
Andy Groebner's family said he was sleeping on a patio bed when he got up in the night to go to the bathroom and went over the railing, falling three stories. The fall left him with serious spinal cord injuries and unable to walk.
"We're lucky he's even here. We are so lucky he's even here, because he is a strong, healthy young man," his mother Linda Groebner said.
The family was staying in Cancun when the accident happened. It's where Andy Groebner remains hospitalized.
"There's a big road, but we're excited, we keep telling him to look up that mountain, every day one more step up. We're going to get to the top, just keep going," Linda Groebner said.
The 24-year-old excelled in many sports growing up, including baseball, basketball and football. He played for Andover High School and then went on to play in college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
"Just a great athlete, a kid that always had an impact on his teammates and I think in our community as he got older, that was a name everybody knew," Andover Football Coach Tom Develice said.
The tight-knit community is supporting Andy Groebner from afar, sending him messages of support, while his family navigates the challenges of being hospitalized in a different country.
"It's been overwhelming. I don't think any of us would be standing without it," Linda Groebner said about the support.
His friends and family describe Andy Groebner as a beacon of positivity and a selfless person. Those qualities were evident even as he went into surgery. He made sure he could pass along a birthday wish to his friend, Conner Knoepfle.
"Whether it was in sports battling adversity, whether physical or mental, he's always been someone to fight through it and I think that's something he'll be able to do now," Conner Knoepfle said.
"Through all of this, it shows his impact on people goes well beyond whatever he did athletically," Develice said.
The family is working on arrangements to get Andy Groebner back home soon. Afterward, he'll likely go to a rehab facility where he can continue to recover with hopes he'll walk again.
