N.C. Firefighter Nearly Killed in Crash Recovering

A Rockwell Rural firefighter, who was seriously injured in a crash while responding to a call late last month, was taken off of sedation and woke up on Friday.

Firefighter Josh Jacobs, 30, was en route to a crash scene on Sept. 28 when the tread on one of the tires on his Ford Explorer came undone, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, according to The Salisbury Post.

The SUV overturned and Jacobs was ejected.

He was flown to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and admitted to the ICU, where he has remained.

The seven-year veteran of the department sustained facial fractures, including a broken nose, and minor bleeding on his brain.

"It's going to be a long process of recovery that is one step at a time, one day at a time," his father, Bill Jacobs, told the newspaper.

Family members say that he is responding to voice commands and mouths words, but can't speak due to a tracheotomy put in place to aid his breathing.

Doctors told the newspaper that there is no know at this point if there will be any lasting effects from the crash.

Firehouse.com will provide more information on this story as it becomes available.