Window washer badly injured in Salt Lake fall he was lucky to survive

Andrew Gudmundson will be bed-ridden for about three months. He's in the intensive care unit at a local hospital recovering from two broken legs, a broken pelvis, a fractured vertebra and a punctured lung.

So it should come as no surprise that when Gudmundson's family talks about him, they describe him as being lucky.

"It's really amazing (the injuries) are not more than that," said Gudmundson's wife, Ashlee Gudmundson. "Everyone's amazed he's even alive. He should be dead, let alone injured a lot more than he is."

Andrew Gudmundson, 27, a window washer, was working Tuesday afternoon at the Gateway Apartments in Salt Lake City when something went wrong and Andrew fell more than 75 feet to the ground. He hit a protruding balcony on the way down. Some believe that slowed him just enough to survive what was the equivalent of jumping out of a seventh-floor window.

A piece of equipment, which possibly was supposed to be used to prevent him from falling, also fell and hit a parked car.

"He's doing OK considering what happened," Ashlee Gudmundson said.

But she also adds that her husband doesn't exactly know why the accident happened.

"We have no idea," she said. "It was basically a freak accident."

Titanium rods were placed in each of Andrew Gudmundson's legs Wednesday from his knees to his ankles, she said. He has been fairly alert since the accident, except when he is being sedated.

"He's pretty drugged up with painkillers," Ashlee Gudmundson said.

Because he has a breathing tube, she said, her husband is communicates with hand signs.

Andrew Gudmundson only took his job as a window washer about a month and a half ago. At the time, Ashlee Gudmundson said, she wasn't really worried about an accident.

"People have been (washing windows) for years and years," she said. "I didn't think about it a whole lot. I wasn't too terribly worried."

The Gudmundsons, who live in West Valley City, have three boys, ages 5, 3 and 1. For now, the boys don't quite know everything that has happened or the severity of the situation, she said. Ashlee Gudmundson is a stay-at-home mom.

Because it will be several months before doctors will even let Andrew Gudmundson attempt to get on his feet again, let alone work, a fund has been set up to help the family. Donations can be made under the Gudmundson name at all U.S. Bank locations.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com