North Carolina man toils to recover after tornado caused a broken femur

A Western North Carolina man who suffered a broken femur after going airborne this past January has been toiling in physical therapy to bounce back, according to a published report.

Byron Cole went flying from a winter tornado that tore through Ellenboro, The Shelby Star reports. The tempest picked him up, carried him for roughly 75 feet and dropped him in a nearby field, also damaging his house.

"I had a broken right femur about an inch lower than my hip," Cole told the news source while said recently while going through a regimen with someone who holds a physical therapy job. "It was a clean break, and I had surgery so they could put a plate with screws in it to hold it."

The physical therapy has been geared toward fortifying his leg as well aiding and improving his balance. His weekly regimen is augmented by exercises he is to fulfill at home.

Physical therapists help patients rehabilitate and treat injuries and chronic conditions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.