Chris Soelter is a construction worker in the Seeley-Swan valley. He was severely injured after the wind storms that blew through the valley on Aug. 23.
Chris Soelter's house was damaged in the wind storm. His brother estimates his medical expenses will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Condon resident was severely injured after wind storms with speeds up to 70 mph swept through the Seeley-Swan Valley on Aug. 23.
Chris Soelter, who is a construction worker in the valley, received a call from a local business in Seeley Lake. The business had some roof damage after the storm and Chris and his son, Brandon, were leaving Chris's home in Condon to get to the job on the day of the storm.
Brandon left the house a few seconds before Chris, according to Chris's brother, Mike, and turned around to see Chris running from the house as a 40 to 50 foot tall pine tree fell. The tree snapped about 20 feet in the air and after hitting the house fell right where Chris ran.
Brandon pulled Chris from under the tree and called Swan Valley Emergency Services, which took Chris to the emergency room in Missoula, Mike said, and added that it was too windy to call Life Flight.
Chris, 50 years old, had compound fractures in his lower right leg, right femur and right hip. He underwent a hip replacement after an initial surgery found the ball and socket joint was damaged. He sustained a broken vertebrae that ended up fused to neighboring vertebrae in surgery, six broken ribs on the left side, a broken left shoulder and multiple fractures to his face.
The first surgery Chris went through was an emergency surgery to set his hip. Four consecutive surgeries addressed his leg, hip, back and face. Mike said it was expected Chris would be moved to a rehabilitation center this week to begin physical therapy.
Mike said it's likely to be two years before Chris is fully recovered. Medical expenses are estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Mike said Chris does not have health insurance to help with the costs.
Mike has set up a GoFundMe page (https://tinyurl.com/msyj767s) for anyone interested in donating to support the family. Direct donations can be made to Chris Soelter, Citizens Bank, PO Box 720, Seeley Lake, Montana, 59868.
Mike and Chris's father used to work at Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Mike said their grandfather helped build Highway 83 when it came into Seeley Lake. Mike worked at Pyramid until the '90s when his father died. He then moved to Arizona and later Florida where he lives now.
It was the same day that Pyramid ran the last logs through production that Chris was injured by a fallen tree. Mike found that unfortunately ironic.
Mike said they had an uncle who lived in Condon who used to give nicknames to everyone. His uncle's cat, for example, was named Robo after the RoboCop movie came out.
"If Uncle was alive he'd be calling (him) Robo Chris right about now," Mike said.
Perfectly competent at too many things
Keely's journalism career started with staff positions at the Lone Peak Lookout and The Madisonian in southwest Montana and freelancing for Dance Spirit Magazine.
In 2023, she completed a legislative reporting fellowship with KFF Health News during Montana's 68th legislative session and graduated with an MA in Environmental Journalism from the University of Montana. Keely completed a summer fire reporting internship with Montana Free Press in 2022.
Her bylines include Scientific American, Modern Farmer, U.S. News & World Report, CBS News, The New Republic, KFF Health News, Montana Free Press, Ars Technica, Mountain Journal and Outside Business Journal.
She also is a producer and editor for a Montana Public Radio podcast.
Keely received her undergraduate degrees in History and Religious Studies from Montana State University in 2017.
In her spare time, she's dancing, drinking processo and running around the mountains.
Reader Comments(0)