Family: Sam Poueu healing from roof fall

The family of Sam Poueu, the popular Season 9 "Biggest Loser" contestant, spoke Monday about the accidental fall that placed him in critical condition in a San Francisco hospital.

After a night of celebrating a friend's birthday on Sept. 3, a family representative told People magazine, Poueu, 25, found himself locked out on the rooftop of another friend's apartment. He then "attempted to climb down the fire escape ladder to drop down into the fourth-floor balcony and slipped. The San Francisco Fire Department responded within minutes thanks to a neighbor's immediate call."

The former security guard, now a trainer at the Biggest Loser Fitness Ridge Resort in Malibu, Calif., "suffered many serious internal injuries and a trauma to the right side of his head," the statement said. He has had three surgeries so far, "and many of his internal injuries are on the healing mend."

Poueu, who proposed to Stephanie Anderson last October during the filming of a "Biggest Loser" special, "still has a long road ahead and is already a true testament to the power of prayer," the family said, adding, "We are thankful for the miracles we have already witnessed in his recovery and are thankful for the dedicated medical personnel attending to him.

"Although he is in wonderful hands," the family's statement added, "we ask for your continued prayers and understanding as Sam and our families get through this difficult time."