5-Year-Old Boy Ran and Screamed for Help After Tree Fell on His Mom During Family Hike: 'The Gift of God'

They endured "the biggest freak accident imaginable," dad Andy Franks wrote

A 5-year-old California boy saved his mother after a tree fell on her while on a vacation hike in July, their family says.

Natalie Franks was in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 29 when she put her son Colton down to find a walking stick as her husband, Andy Franks, and their other son continued on the trail, Andy wrote in a GoFundMe fundraiser.

That's when a pine tree "snapped and landed on top of her [Natalie], crashing her face first to the ground and coming to rest a couple feet above where she lay," Andy wrote.

While Natalie was unable to move, Colton saved her life after he began to run and scream for help, according to the fundraiser, which has raised more than $200,000 as of Tuesday, Sept 10.

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Andy — who declined an interview with PEOPLE but referred to the family's experience as described in the GoFundMe — said a rescue team quickly responded and stabilized his wife before they transported her to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center in Hailey, Idaho.

Ketchum Fire Chief Bill McLaughlin told the Idaho Mountain Express that the incident was unusual.

“We’ve certainly had situations where trees have fallen on people, but usually they have been because people were cutting firewood improperly or other similar situations,” he said. “Just out of the blue? This is a pretty rare event.”

Six firefighters and other first responders came to the Franks family's aid, he said.

Natalie had a collapsed lung that was filling with blood, multiple broken bones and ribs as well as a severely dislocated left hip and knee that was "cutting off blood flow to her lower left leg," according to the family's fundraiser.

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She was subsequently "airlifted to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho where she was taken quickly into a surgery where vascular surgeons took veins from her right leg and built her an artery that they used to do an artery bypass and regain blood flow to her left leg," Andy wrote.

Among the many thanks given as Natalie began her recovery, Andy gave "special" praise to son Colton, "who had the gift of God in him to know to run and get help for his mommy who he loves so dearly."

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After spending several days in a rehab hospital, Natalie wrote in an Aug. 24 update that she has "no recollection" of her accident and "limited memory" of the immediate days following.

She also dedicated a post to the friends and family members who went out of their way to help her as she underwent surgeries and recovered.

"Thank you for following along on this journey with me. Words can never describe the depth of my gratitude," she wrote. "I hope to find my new rhythms at home and, as I gain comfort and confidence, begin to start seeing you face-to-face again soon!"

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By an Aug. 31 update, Andy noted the family was back at their California house, though "this is an entirely different home" in the wake of Natalie's injuries.

"We are learning to operate with a new level of grace, forgive quickly, laugh off the ridiculousness of it all, and move forward, one day at a time," he wrote.

"Our commitment to love this way, despite all the ups and downs (and there have been lots), has shaped us into the types of people who can endure the biggest freak accident imaginable," he added, "and come out the other side still ready to say yes to serve one another late into the hours of the night, through exhaustion and discomfort."

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