A Pittston man feels lucky to be alive, much less up and moving around, just a day after having been in a potentially fatal accident. The workplace accident involved a 17-ton piece of wall falling on the man’s truck, trapping him inside of his vehicle. On Aug. 28, the man was on Route 611 in Stroud Township at a job site. According to the man, he was making a U-turn in the Wayne Bank parking lot when he abruptly found himself pinned inside of his truck.
The man said that what saved him was the boom on the bucket of the construction truck that he was driving. When the 17 tons of concrete came down on the truck, it leaned onto the boom instead of falling fully onto the hood, which might have crushed him. The man said that his first instinct was to get out of the truck as quickly as possible, and first responders were able to get him out in an hour.
Once he was able to exit the vehicle, he was put into an ambulance then flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Amazingly, the man only sustained a bruised and sprained ankle. He expects to return to work a week after the accident and only needs to use crutches for a few days. Investigators were still looking into the cause of the accident the next day.
Whether someone works on a construction site or at an office, it is up to employers to provide a safe working environment. Someone who has been injured on or as a result of their job will often have to deal with lost wages and medical bills. A lawyer could help someone pursue compensation for these costs and let them know what their additional legal options are.
Source: PA Homepage, “Drive Thru Drama”, August 28, 2013