Man’s arm could not be saved
Ferry worker injured trying to undo rope
Doctors were unable to reattach the severed forearm of a worker injured on the Quyon ferry Thursday, the vessel’s owner says.
Harold McKenny, 33, was helping move the new, 250-tonne, not-yet-operational boat from one side of the Quyon ferry dock to another when the accident occurred, said owner Don McColgan, who is also McKenny’s uncle.
Police said initially that the accident occurred when a cable snapped. McColgan said that Transport Canada investigators, who took over the investigation from police Thursday night, have determined that McKenny was somehow injured as he was trying to undo a knot in a taut rope.
“They were all surprised that a rope could do something like that,” McColgan said. “They said they could never suspect that that would happen either. “Hindsight is 20/20.” Though someone jumped into the Ottawa River to retrieve the severed limb, it had been too badly crushed to successfully reattach it.
McKenny remains in hospital and is in and out of periods of sedation, McColgan said.
“He was asking how I was doing, for crying out loud,” McColgan said.
McKenny is well known in the area and has a great rapport with customers on the ferry. McColgan has received numerous emails from customers sending their best wishes for the father of two.
McKenny, a 15-year employee of the ferry, will always have a job with his uncle.
“Oh, for sure. God, yes,” McColgan said.
“There’s not a lazy bone in his body, so I can’t see him sitting around too long.”