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Teen In ICU After Hitting Head On Cement

DAYTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities teenager is in intensive care after falling nine feet at a home and hitting his head on cement.

Joe Fricke thought there was a deck on the other side of a patio door, but there wasn't when he stepped outside last weekend. He was at a friend's home in Dayton, on the Northwest side of the Twin Cities.

Fricke was unconscious and bleeding after falling nine feet onto the patio below. A Dayton officer tried reviving him. Fire Rescue crews helped too before a medical helicopter arrived and airlifted Fricke to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.

Fricke graduated from Rogers High School two years ago, and Tuesday night, his friends and two sisters came back there to show their support for him. Fricke's favorite color is red, so they painted a big rock in the front of the school that color. His two pickup trucks are red, too.

Fricke's sisters and friends spent the day at the hospital, so this was somewhat of a break for them. His sisters say they're encouraged by their brother's responses when communicating.

"He's just one of those kids that makes sure we through anything, and I'm going to make sure he gets through this," said Fricke's friend, Nick Thelen.

Fricke's friends call him a fighter.

"We just want the old Joe back, and hopefully he pulls through 100 percent," said his friend, Nick Jurrens. "He's on our minds every minute of the day."

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