FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – When Dave Keep fell 50 feet onto concrete, his family feared he wouldn’t survive. Now, they call him “Miracle Man.”
Living in Franklin County, Keep owned a painting business. On Oct. 23, 2018, he was out at a house, 50 feet up in the air, when the scaffolding his ladder was on tipped.
He crashed head first onto concrete. He was bleeding. He wasn’t breathing. Emergency crews flew him to a hospital with little chance of surviving.
Two of his children were there to witness the terrifying moments.
“I almost just lost all hope,” his daughter Katie Holt said. “The whole time I just kept yelling at him to hang on.”
Keep woke up after spending three days in a coma.
“That was definitely traumatic, and I felt like I was looking death in the face,” his wife Julia Keep said.
Then, Dave Keep had to recover from a major traumatic brain injury, among other problems. His family faced many challenges during those months, many of which he and his wife spent at a facility in Atlanta.
“I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude just to be alive, and gratitude that my family was still here.” he said. “When I realized the trauma they had endured and the pain that all of them had endured … it was difficult, difficult to accept that.”
Dave’s personality changed. He’s now has more of a lighthearted attitude. He’s even pranking family members.
“We’re not guaranteed the next minute. We don’t know what we’ve got with our loved ones, so I’m determined to enjoy and make the most out of every minute,” Julia Keep said.
Dave Keep shut down the painting company he owned and started a new business in home maintenance. He said he won’t be climbing up any ladders now.