Man trapped under concrete slab for hours
Crane finally brought in to lift massive weight off victim at private Flamborough property
A 64-year-old man pinned under a massive slab of concrete that broke free from the side of a dam in Flamborough was flown to hospital after emergency responders worked feverishly for hours to free him Thursday.
The slab fell on the Brantford man while he and another worker were examining the Carlisle-area dam around 11 a.m.
He was flown by air ambulance to Hamilton General Hospital more than two hours later after a crane lifted the huge piece from his legs, allowing firefighters and paramedics to remove him from the rocky terrain at the bottom of the Progreston Falls dam.
The man, who was trapped from the thighs down, was taken away in “life-threatening, critical condition,” said David Donais, Hamilton paramedic superintendent.
Paramedics, police and firefighters worked under the blazing sun to free the man, using wooden blocks to stabilize the slab, which landed on uneven ground near choppy water at the privately owned dam. “There’s no firm, flat footing,” Donais said. Paramedics, trying to keep the patient as com-
fortable as possible, sedated him and injected painkillers.
They also chemically paralyzed him as part of a procedure that involves inserting a tube to keep patients breathing. A supply of blood was also brought in from Hamilton and Milton.
Firefighters tried to lift the slab using airbags, but that didn’t work, prompting the call for a crane.
This also raised the spectre of amputation with a surgical team on scene as backup.
But the rescue operation didn’t have to resort to that.
“Thanks to the help of the crane company, we were able to lift the slab off the worker,” said David Christopher, spokesperson for the fire department.
Christopher said the victim and his coworker were checking on repairs to the dam.
“And at one point, when they were down there, it looks like a portion of the concrete sheered away from the wall, trapping the worker.”
Christopher estimated the slab weighed “a few thousand pounds, at least.”
The waters of Bronte Creek flow through the dam at Progreston and Green Spring roads, which are reached from Centre Road. A railway bridge crosses high over the falling water.
Neighbours around 1390 Progreston Rd., a privately owned parcel where emergency crews and the crane set up to reach to the trapped man, watched the tragedy unfold.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” Christine Nicholson said. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through.”
Coun. Judi Partridge, who represents Flamborough, was also distressed by the man’s ordeal and sympathized with emergency workers.
“The first responders who are on site … it would be just gut-wrenching for them.”
Partridge said the old dam is a throwback to a time when mills operated in the area.
She noticed fencing go up around the site a couple of months ago but didn’t know what work was being done.
The Halton Conservation Authority is responsible for reviewing projects near floodplains to help safeguard against pollution, erosion, flooding and environmental degradation.
A permit hasn’t been issued for work at the dam, noted Norm Miller, a spokesperson for the conservation authority.
Property records show that 1390 Progreston Rd. is owned by Brenda Kuiper. She couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
Hamilton police and the Ministry of Labour are conducting parallel investigations into the workplace accident.
A ministry spokesperson couldn’t say what kind of work was being done at the dam, who the contractor was or why it crumbled.
“We don’t have that information at this time,” Janet Deline said.
Staff Sgt. Oliver Mann of the Hamilton police’s Mountain station couldn’t comment on the nature of the work or what caused it, either.