Theodore was riding his off-road motorcycle with 14 friends in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest when his head struck a fallen tree that he never saw. Several riders ahead of him had also hit the tree in some way, but he struck it at just the wrong angle. The impact resulted in six fractured ribs, a fractured skull, a fractured scapula, and eight spinal fractures, including a burst fracture of his T8. Immediately after the injury, he was unable to feel his legs.