He fell.

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This old guy I work with on a bunch of jobs.
I worked with him last Wednesday a bit then he sent me over to a different site to finish some things up - no problem.
I wasn't able to sleep that night so didn't go work the next day - too tired to safely drive.
Haven't been able to get ahold of him on the phone since. Figured he smashed his phone or lost it or w/e.
Took care of some non work things, rested, went to the beach.

This evening after the beach I went with a friend to the 3/4 built mansion the old guy stays in to see if he was there. His truck was a few doors down. I had the code to get in, so went in looking for him.. he wasn't there but a friend of his was. He told me he fell off a scaffold/plank setup at the poorhouse job a few doors down and hit his head, ended up in the hospital and had some sort of brain surgery. Could have been very minor just to relieve pressure or remove a bone chip or something. Apparently he's heavily sedated so he can heal. His wife flew up from Costa Rica. I did get one of his daughters phone number to find out more, and I know one of his sons is in a different hospital for different reasons.

Anyways, all of this after I argued with him about safety/injury things last week.. he was irritated that I was reconfiguring planks and scaffolds to be the right height for me And be safe for my weight - complaining about wasting time. Um no, I don't need safety rails and all that stuff, but I Do need it to be safe for Me and My weight and body, not yours - it isn't something that's negotiable. Also, last week when he mentioned going over to the poorhouse job site I mentioned to my mom that I don't think he Needs my help to do that small job but I don't mind being there simply because it's a scaffold over a pool deck and someone else should be there.. thankfully someone else was there with him, some young guy dunno who - otherwise he'd have died beside that pool.


etc etc. Work safe and smart. Don't waste time for no reason, but don't cut so many safety corners to save time that you end up with a preventable injury - or worse..

Sorry to hear about this. Thoughts and prayers heading your way.

Thx!

Today I'm gonna go swing by a couple job sites and see if they got completed last week or if I'm gonna do it the next couple days. Then there's a possibility I might have to help find a place to move all his tools and vehicles to for storage as he's gotta move them soon... but, he might have time for that yet - and that's gonna be a scramble though. Might still have to help rally some troops to do it. Probably a sea-can worth of tools + ~4 vehicles, some of them large-ish. But maybe that's his daughter's problem to arrange and I'll just help get the muscle.

Is a serious concern that people don't like being reminded about. I have seen a fair few preventable injuries where I have told people not to do it the way they were doing it and they usually give a mouthful back.
After the injury I say "Told you!" which doesn't go down well!

But how come I could see it as a disaster coming and they couldn't see it? That is what puzzled me because to me it was obvious!

He's raced around like an acrobat on meth for 50 years or so of work.. never had something like this happen, so I'm sure figured it wouldn't happen to him and he could just keep on going. Obviously it caught up to him and rather than take a few extra minutes to do what he was doing he's likely going to be down for a few months is my guess.

He does that with pains and injuries, too.. works so fast and furious that he ends up seizing up his back and whole body and ends up in the ER instead of doing a more normal amount of work and some stretches/relaxing.

Can't teach an old dog new tricks.. no real point in pointing it out to him - he's learned his lesson how a lot of people do.. the hard way.

I'm gonna pack up a few things and go check out a couple job sites, might swing by the hospital to see him/his family.

MG is my friend!

Made it up to the hospital to visit this eve. He’s pretty f****d up, but will survive. Half his head is shaved and there’s 50 or so staples in it. Some sort of pneumatic lower leg braces on, mitts over his hands and restraints tied so he can’t remove anything.

He’s conscious and talking a bit, realizes who I am. Asked a couple questions about work things as his whole life is work. Some gibberish and nonsense too - head injury + meds.

He really wants the mitts off his hands but I have to keep telling him they gotta stay so he doesn’t pull anything out. I can tell he really doesn’t like that.

Probably gonna be in the hospital for weeks At Least, who knows maybe months ? And then ongoing recovery and rehab after that for as long as it takes.

I know him, so if he can work again he’ll be back to work vs retire. Kinda needs the money but Also work from rise to sleep is what keeps him going and will keep him living longer. If he’s forced to retire from this sort of paid work he’ll go do all the physical work he can on his couple properties in Costa Rica and just hang with his wife and run their little tourist hotel. But I know him and if he possibly Can work he’ll be back to construction again once he’s recovered.

It's a good story, with vivid characters.

lol that’s my whole life

goldfish21,
Are you responsible for the man who fell? Is he your employee, or a co-worker?

Nope, not responsible. I work for/with him sometimes. He’s a contractor but mostly a cash guy, so doesn’t have the type of insurance that would pay lost wages - most small contractors don’t even if they’re completely above board. No concerns about medical expenses, though - he’s from here, a Canadian citizen, so won’t see any hospital bills.

I’m just helping out with tying up loose ends on existing jobs and moving tools and scaffolds etc.