A local sign maker is recovering at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital after suffering a stroke while working at a downtown Center business and falling about 12 feet off a ladder Tuesday morning.

Kenneth Verner was doing work at The Pizzeria when the medical emergency occurred. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, and according to his son, Tim Verner had several splintered ribs, a collapsed lung, broken vertebra, a large gash on his arm and bleeding on the brain, and apparent paralysis.

Tim Verner said his father’s heart also arrested about six times. After a temporary pacemaker was installed, and tense moments fighting for survival, Kenneth Verner is reported to be stable, but remains in critical condition.