An 18-year-old Powell High School student was seriously injured Tuesday morning after his truck rolled over west of town.

On Wednesday, Ethan Asher was recovering from multiple surgeries in an intensive care unit in Billings, his parents said in a Facebook post.

They said doctors repaired a tear to Asher’s aorta — a large artery near the heart — worked to relieve pressure from his head due to swelling and placed him in a medically induced coma. Asher was reported to be “putting up a good fight” as he works to recover.

“He has always been a fighter and we don’t expect this to be any different,” his parents said on Facebook.

In the post, Andy and Tiffani Asher thanked community members for their support and asked for prayers “for God to make our son whole again.”

“We have already seen God work a miracle in Ethan before and we truly believe this is just another part of Ethan's testimony!” they wrote, also saying that God “has a plan for our son and we believe this is all part of it.”

Several hundred messages poured in on the Ashers’ post, pledging prayers and support.

Asher had been heading east on Lane 9 — between roads 14 and 12 — when his 2007 Dodge pickup “appeared to veer off the roadway on the eastbound shoulder,” said Lance Mathess, a spokesman for the Park County Sheriff’s Office.

Asher then overcorrected, Mathess said, and the truck began sliding sideways. The Dodge went off the road on the westbound side, tripped and rolled three times before landing right-side up in a field. Asher was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected as the vehicle rolled, Mathess said. He also said the Dodge’s front air bags did not deploy.

The crash occurred around 7:49 a.m., not far from the Park County Road and Bridge shop. Several road and bridge staffers are longtime friends of the Asher family and they “provided assistance and did their best to comfort Ethan until the paramedics could arrive,” said a Facebook post from the Park County Public Works Department.

After being taken by ambulance to Powell Valley Hospital, Asher was flown to Billings Clinic by helicopter.

The county’s public works department was among the many sending thoughts and prayers.

“Ethan is a great athlete and a fine young man,” read the Wednesday post, adding, “We are all Powell Panthers today and are pulling for you Ethan!”

The incident was brought up during Tuesday night’s Powell school board meeting, where board members similarly expressed their concern and best wishes for Asher and his family.

“He’s as nice a kid as you could find anywhere on earth,” Park County School District No. 1 Superintendent Jay Curtis said of the senior, adding that Tuesday was “a pretty rough day in school.”

Beyond being a student at Powell High School, Asher was a key member of the Panther football team and was working to again earn the starting quarterback job.

PHS head football coach Aaron Papich said Asher was poised to have “a gigantic impact on offense” for the team this season. But more than that, the coach praised Asher’s ability to positively influence his peers. Between volunteering at football camps for young children to helping freshmen in the weight room, Papich said Asher is “such a big part of our program and our team.”

“Some guys kind of keep to themselves, they hog their talent. Ethan [Asher] multiplies his talent,” Papich said. “And I think that’s the definition of a leader.”

As Asher has competed with the Panthers’ other quarterbacks for playing time, “he does his job, then tries to help them do theirs,” Papich said. “That’s what you want on your team.”

He called Asher “just a really good kid.”

For many of the players on the Panthers’ football squad, this is the first time they’ve had to deal with this kind of adversity. But the players are rallying around Asher and each other, Papich said.

“I’ve never been more impressed by a team in my life. These kids are so resilient,” he said.

The seniors on the team drove to Billings to be with Asher and his family, while Papich and his staff left it up to the younger players to decide if they wanted to practice.

“We basically told them that it’s up to them — if you need time, take time,” Papich said. “But come practice time [Tuesday], just about every kid that didn’t go to Billings was dressed out in full pads and ready to go, laser-focused. Knowing they had a job to do, and it was something that Ethan would have wanted them to do at that moment. I think they were honoring him, and we just want to continue to honor Ethan.”

New Life Church has organized a Wednesday evening prayer vigil for the PHS senior at Washington Park, set to start at 7 p.m.