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Labourer paralysed after crashing through 7 floors
Devon Williams, a 31-year-old labourer is lucky to be alive, after falling from the seventh floor of the Pegasus Hotel building, which is currently under construction at Kinston, Georgetown.
The Pegasus building from which Williams fell
The incident occurred on Monday last. It was William’s first day on his new job.
He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where it was discovered that his spine was broken in three places.
Williams was admitted and his family were told that he will have to undergo surgery.
Still in a state of disbelief and shock Williams told this newspaper that he was contracted to do “task work” by one of the foreman working at the construction.
He was told that his job for the day would be to carry blocks for the block layer on the seventh floor of the building.
Williams was given a helmet and a reflector vest before ascending upward to where he was sent.
When he arrived, he noticed his colleagues fetching blocks across two wooden planks where the mason was working..
At first he was afraid but soon gained confidence and began to work. He took his first load of blocks across the planks and returned safely.
On his second trip across, he heard a creaking sound and before he knew it, he came crashing from plank to plank until he arrived at the bottom.
Williams said he fainted and came to consciousness when his co-workers and colleagues were lifting him off the ground. “They ask me if I felt anything, but to be honest I could not feel my legs they were numb,” said Williams.
His grandmother, who was present at his bedside, said that the reason why her grandson is alive is because of God’s grace and the fact that he fell from one plank to the other before landing on the ground floor.
Williams’ sister who is also a nurse at the hospital said that doctors had told them that even after surgery, it is not guaranteed that her brother will walk again.
She added that the contractor on the building, China Harbour and Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), have offered to compensate and pay for the medical expenses of Williams.
However, since they did not contract her brother directly they are processing the funds through the foreman who employed Williams.
According to the labourer’s sister, the foreman has paid for three computed tomography (CT) Scans and one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But there are additional costs that will have to be covered after surgery is completed. She was promised that a representative from CHEC and the foreman would visit them at the hospital on Friday to discuss these costs. But no one came.
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