A life changed in seconds
Crowd at annual Day of Mourning hears 1st-hand accounts of workplace tragedies
Something was telling me that it wasn't right and I shouldn't go, but I chose to ignore that inner voice, and that momentary lapse of judgment changed my life forever. Injured worker Mike Shaw
On Dec. 16, 2013, Mike Shaw’s skiing career ended when a temporary lapse in judgment resulted in a serious accident that changed his life forever.
Shaw, 29, told his story to a crowd of people at the annual Day of Mourning ceremony on Friday.
The Day of Mourning commemorates workers who have been killed or injured as a result of their jobs.
In December 2013, Shaw, who is originally from Vernon, was living and working in Colorado as a ski coach.
While coaching his team one day, Shaw performed a routine demonstration of two full rotations.
“On the way into the jump I had this gut-sinking feeling,” he said. “Something was telling me that it wasn’t right and I shouldn’t go, but I chose to ignore that inner voice, and that momentary lapse of judgment changed my life forever.”
Shaw tumbled down the hill and came to a stop face down in the snow. In that moment, he was paralyzed. “I couldn’t move my legs, my body or my arms,” he said. “Nothing below the neck.”
Shaw was flown to a hospital in Colorado, where he spent two weeks in the intensive care unit, then was transferred to Vancouver General Hospital, where he spent one week, followed by three months at a rehabilitation centre.
A spinal specialist told him he may never walk again.
“My spark for life had been extinguished,” said Shaw.
Shaw is now able to walk, but he will never ski again.
He wants all workers to understand the importance of speaking up if something doesn’t feel right in the workplace.
“Voice your concerns, trust your intuition, because we can prevent these things,” he said. “We can prevent the hardship and the loss.”
In 2016, there were 144 work-related deaths in B.C. — 85 caused by occupational disease from exposure to asbestos decades ago and 59 that resulted from traumatic injury, including 22 from motor-vehicle incidents.
From the North Okanagan to the South Okanagan-Similkameen, there were four work-related deaths in 2016.
“Workplace safety and health are a shared responsibility,” said Mark Stokes, client services manager with WorkSafe BC. “Let us remember, on this Day of Mourning, the many people in B.C. who have lost their lives because they were earning a living.”