Two and-a-half days after a violent wind hit the state, a Moretown man remains hospitalized at UVM Medical Center and says he's lucky to be alive.

During the wind storm Sunday night, a large tree uprooted and fell on top of Anthony Kessler as he was asleep alone in his Yurt in Moretown. "The fight in my mind -- I remember seeing death," Kessler said. "Before I could even sit up I remembered like turning my head and watching the log come through."

The tree snapped around 9:30 Sunday night and landed on the abdomen and legs of the father of two, leaving him trapped. The log was so big, Kessler couldn't get his arms around it. "I tried all my might to pull myself out. Every time I pulled myself out more, the log settled deeper and pushed me deeper into the bed," Kessler said.

Kessler says he meditated through the crushing pain to save up his energy until the wind and rain died down enough so that someone would hopefully hear him scream for help. But no one came. "All my screaming was for nothing. They couldn't hear anything," he said.

He spent 12 hours pinned under the massive tree, until a neighbor finally spotted the damaged yurt and called for help. "I did think I was going to die," Kessler said.

It took half-a-dozen people and two hours to secure the building and safely remove the log, Kessler said. Miraculously he suffered no broken bones, but his right leg is badly damaged and he might lose it because the weight of the tree killed a lot of his tissue. "My whole life is based upon my body. My durability of body is my whole career path. I work with horses and can't really do that if you only have one leg," he said.

"It's a miracle thinking of just always counting blessings," said Melanie Kessler, Anthony's partner. The couple are also grateful the boys -- ages 3 and 5 -- weren't staying with Dad last weekend. "They usually sleep with me, and my arms one on each side of me when we go to the camp, and if they would have been there, it would have been the end of them -- but they weren't there," Kessler said.

Kessler is taking it day by day. He says his leg could recover, but he doesn't know when he will find out. He said he was thankful for the help from neighbors and fire fighters to help keep him alive.