I was a crane operator and rigger at a trucking company. One day I noticed that the load on the back of a truck had shifted. My company told me to drive anyway, but that’s a no-no. It’s very dangerous, so I went to fix the problem.
The way everything was set up in the back of the truck was not safe, and they only used a thin, corrugated type of cardboard to hold things up. My foot went through a hole, all the way up to my knee. The injury tore my ACL, which needed to be rebuilt. I had to have a second surgery for my torn meniscus, since the first surgery was not successful.
I wish I could say this was my first injury. But I was back at work with my brace still on, and was asked to show new employees how to set up a crane. These big machines are meant to lift thousands of pounds. Well, a pin gets pulled prematurely by one of my trainees, and it rips the tip of my finger off. It wasn’t reattached, and my wound was handled in such a way that by Monday, I couldn’t even lift my arm. I had a pain in my chest.
I had sepsis, which crawled up my arm. I was lucky they were able to save my arm, but doctors said that if I had waited one more day, I would have died. I did have to lose the entire finger, and spent four days in the hospital recovering from sepsis.
Meanwhile, my employer kept asking when I was returning to work, and threatening to deny my workers’ compensation if I didn’t come in. It was a bad situation. Before we met, my wife had been in an accident and called Allen & Allen. She had a great experience and recommended that I call.
It was great working with Jennifer, Candice, and Brittney. They explained everything to me, and always called me back. They would even text to say they were in meetings but would call as soon as the meetings were over! Jennifer was very personable, always asking me how I was doing. Everyone was good to me. Allen & Allen was exemplary.
