Here in Manhattan, we know very well how a community can rally after a tragedy. It happens in other places, too, of course.
We recently ran across a heartwarming story of a North Carolina town rallying around an injured worker and longtime community member.
The town of Rocky Mount is not far from Raleigh. There at Bob’s Appliance Services, they’ll be holding a blood drive on Dec. 30 in the name of a worker who owes his life to the massive amounts of blood he received after a summer welding accident.
The man was initially pronounced dead by medical personnel following the July accident. He was soon resuscitated, however, and flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital.
He’d been welding a tractor rim when the tire exploded, knocking him 40 feet. The violent explosion ripped open his chest and tore off part of a leg.
As you might expect with such enormous wounds, he experienced tremendous blood loss.
A friend helping organize the blood drive told a media outlet that the man “had 132 units (of blood) put in him. That’s a lot of blood. That is enough blood for 12 to 15 people, so we’re trying to put something back in the system.”
The injured worker is still recovering from his injuries at a nearby rehabilitation center.
He’s being fitted with a prosthetic leg, his friend said.
In similar cases, the worker is typically entitled to workers’ compensation benefits and very possibly federal Social Security disability benefits. An experienced attorney can explain the available legal options in these situations and help the injured worker obtain the compensation and benefits they need and deserve.
Source: Rocky Mount Telegram: “Blood drive to honor injured welder,” John Henderson, Dec. 20, 2011