Man Falls Through Roof, Becomes Paralyzed While Chasing Hat-Stealing Monkey

While on vacation in Bali, Jeff 'Swede' Swedenhjelm, an American man, fell through a roof while chasing a monkey who had stolen his hat. It wasn’t just any hat, though, it was his much-loved Steelers cap that he didn’t want to lose.

Swedenhjelm was badly injured by the fall and was left paralyzed from the chest down. He’s losing feeling in his fingers, too, according to his family. His relatives also helped him set up a GoFundMe page to raise enough money for him to fly in a Medevac to a different hospital and to help with medical treatments after he’s moved.

Along with the request for funds, Swedenhjelm also revealed more details about his diagnosis on the donation page.

“Early diagnosis is that full recovery is rare and partial recovery will take at least 3 months to gain feeling in my lower extremities and possibly over a year to walk again,” he wrote.

This all happened when he fell 33 feet through a roof in Bali, while chasing a monkey who had his hat. He was taken to a hospital and was told that he had C7 spinal damage. He was told that he needs an MRI, surgery and then months of rehabilitation after that.

The GoFundMe page has a $100,000 goal and has currently raised over $60,000, which is enough to pay for his transportation to another hospital.

Aside from the paralysis, though, Swedenhjelm has also been dealing with pneumonia, which was caused by his condition.

“The current situation is that Swede is now stable and recovering from the Pneumonia which was brought on by his lungs and breathing muscles being paralysed,” the family wrote on the GoFundMe page. “He is still in ICU with a breathing apparatus but is upbeat.”

While he’s unable to write out his own message on the page, his family said that he gave them a message to share on his behalf.

“No wrath left uncloned, mighta been there, mighta done that, yet my path alone,” his message to those reading about his story began. “Bali clobbered me but I can’t be hobbled see, and when I mount this comeback it’s gonna leave the world wobbling on its D!”

The GoFundMe campaign is currently trending on the site, with over 1,046 donations made in five days.