Construction Worker Hospitalized after Being Buried Alive in Gainesville

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on January 14, 2019

An investigation is currently underway into just what happened on Thursday, January 10th, to result in an unnamed individual working for an unnamed construction company to fall into a 30-foot deep hole and then become covered in dirt. A statement released on Friday, January 11th, indicates that the worker is alive and recovering in a hospital near to the area where the construction accident took place, but much more information than that is not readily available.

With regards to the incident that caused the hospitalization of the construction worker, we are certain that it happened within the city of Gainesville and that teams from the Gainesville Fire Rescue were called in to assist with the rescue and resuscitation of the injured person.

It seems that the worker was standing near to a 30-foot hole. It is not known what this hole was there for, nor is it clear why it was being filled in. Regardless, something happened to cause the worker to be knocked from where they were standing at the edge of the hole into the hole itself. That no one saw the worker fall into the hole seems certain as after the man fell in, the hole began to be filled with dirt. The reports failed to become entirely clear on just who was filling the hole in, but it does seem clear that the person or persons doing this were not at all aware that someone was at the bottom of the hole.

While this is not certain, it seems entirely likely that the individual was knocked momentarily unconscious after falling into the hole and that this is the reason why they were not able to raise the alarm for their own plight.

One of the last important pieces of information that remains unclear is just how it was discovered that the construction worker was inside of the hole. After this was brought to light, members of the Gainesville Fire Rescue crew began to furiously dig with shovels as well as their bare hands until they found the head of the buried construction worker. At this time, the worker was not conscious; however, they were still breathing.

The Gainesville Fire Rescue teams used pulleys and ropes to lift the man fully out of the hole before rushing him to the hospital where he was still convalescing at the time of this writing.

Sources:

• Florida construction worker survives after being buried alive

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.