KILLARNEY, Man. – Maureen Heymans considers her son lucky to be alive after he fell 15 metres while working at an inland grain terminal being built here.
Gabriel Heymans, 19, suffered broken legs, broken heels and fractures to his back after falling from an I-beam Oct. 24. He remains in stable condition at Brandon General Hospital.
“He was just lucky he didn’t land on his head or his back,” said Maureen, a Killarney resident. “We were thankful for that.”
She believes her son will be in hospital for another two months. The doctors told her Gabriel is making a good recovery. He landed on his feet after falling from the beam.
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“He lifts weights and that, so he’s pretty strong,” Maureen said. “He didn’t just mush at the bottom.”
Three new grain terminals are being built at Killarney. Gabriel was part of a construction crew building the new Paterson Grain terminal on the east side of town.
The accident prompted a temporary halt to construction while provincial workplace safety and health officers investigated. Work resumed on Oct. 26.
Garry Hildebrand, director of workplace safety and health, said the investigation is not yet complete. It appears Gabriel unhooked his safety line when a coffee break was called, Hildebrand said.
He was walking across a beam that had some plywood on it. When he stepped on the plywood it flipped, and Gabriel plunged toward the ground feet first.
