Woman Paralyzed After Branch Falls on Her at City Park

Cui Ying Zhou was at a San Francisco park watching her little girls play on Aug. 12 when her life changed forever. A 100-pound branch fell 50 feet from a tree and hit her on the head, snapping her spine and leaving her paralyzed, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Now, a relative has set up a GoFundMe looking to raise $50,000 for Zhou and her family. "Cui is a stay-at-home mom who takes care of two little girls age 9 and 5 while husband, Jian Cong Tan works," the campaign states. "Jian has since taken time off work to take care of the kids and wife during this difficult time. This tragic event has made it very difficult for the family physically, emotionally, and financially with medical bills mounting."

Zhou's skull was also fractured in the incident at Washington Square Park in the North Beach area, which led Mayor Ed Lee to promise the city would review the condition of all its trees. A complete tree assessment had last been updated in 2010, at which time the pine tree that dropped the limb was listed as being in good condition. Arborists who did visual assessments of the trees in the area after Zhou's accident say they are in good shape, and that what happened was just a freak accident, CBS Local reports. Zhou was still hospitalized as of Saturday, per KTVU. She told the station she doesn't remember the branch falling, and that she has a lot of pain in her head and back but cannot feel anything from the waist down. (This woman saved her girls' lives, and it left her paralyzed.)