27.02.2021
Fundraiser for injured arborist
A GoFundMe page has been set up for a tree worker who was seriously injured last week in a platform incident.
The injured arborist, Sam Neterval-Quiel - a highly experienced tree worker - was severely injured earlier this week when the top boom of a 25 metre CMC 83HD spider lift suffered a substantial and sudden structural failure on a job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
While several people have sent us the same photos – no one has yet provided the details of where or what exactly happened. A structural failure such as this is highly unusual and is usually only seen after repeated structural impacts or overloads or from heavy internal corrosion.
We did contact the CMC distributor in the US during the week but have yet to receive a response and have now also contacted the manufacturer. We will update this report as soon as we learn more.
In the meantime, we have been asked to raise awareness of the GoFundMe page that has been set up by a friend Aaron Lucente. So far it has raised an impressive $14,287 - exceeding the $10,000 initial target - from 141 donors. However, the more support and help that is available to both him and his family during this grim time the better.
Click here to go directly to the GoFundMe page.
Please register to see all images
The incident scene
UPDATE
Click here to see subsequent safety bulletin and recall notice
Spidermewp
My best wishes to Sam and his family.
I hope to see the results of an investigation from both CMC and the US dealer All Access Equipment so that this kind of incident is avoided in the future.