A Dozier man was air lifted to a Pensacola, Fla., hospital Tuesday night after falling from his deer stand.

Jerry Ward lay in the woods for nearly five hours near Boston Road before being discovered by his wife, Donna, said the couple’s daughter, Brooke Williams, on Wednesday.

“Daddy fell from the tree at 3:30 p.m. and was unable to move,” she said. “He’d forgotten his cell phone in the truck, so he hollered, shot his gun and waived a flashlight to get someone to help him. My mom got worried when she couldn’t reach him, so she went to hunt him.

“It was a good thing, too,” Williams said. “It could’ve been very, very bad. Luckily, he doesn’t have any broken legs, as previously thought, and neither does he have any spinal injuries.”

Williams said her father was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital and suffered a numerous broken bones along the right side of his body near the hip area. She said doctors are waiting until the swelling subsides before doing surgery.

“Doctors said he won’t be able to walk for 12 weeks after surgery, so it won’t be an easy recover,” she said. “He is in great spirits and thankful to be alive, and so are we. Even though it’s a bad injury and long recovery time, we’re all so blessed he’s alive and not worse than he is. God is good and has once again blessed us.”

The family asked for the community’s continued prayers for a speedy recovery.