Construction Worker Thought He Was Going to Die

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

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On Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Lawrence Martinez, a 32 year old construction worker, was laying a sewer line for a Northwest Side development, when the trench collapsed.

Mr. Martinez was practically completely covered by dirt. His co-workers spotted his head and started digging with their hands. "His mouth was getting trapped with dirt," said Noel Panniagua, his supervisor and owner of Plumbing Contractors Co. His co-workers quickly cleared the dirt around his eyes and face and within minutes he was freed to his knees.

San Antonio firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly halted the recovery efforts in fear that the trench would collapse. The firefighters shored the trench with plywood and poles to prevent further collapse and two firefighters at a time used shovels to dig the dirt out. This painstaking task would take nearly six hours.

Around 5 p.m., firefighters cleared enough dirt around Martinez's ankles, strapped him inside a concave, wire structure and used ropes to pull him to safety. He was taken to University Hospital with only what appeared to be a broken ankle and toe.