OT: ND Student Assistant Dies in Freak Accident
What horrible news. ND Student filming practice dies when wind topples tower he was in
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=Ap4WzLBqulIihmKKj8JNAzo5nYcB?slug…
October 28th, 2010 at 1:09 AM ^
Very unfortunate; may God have mercy on him and grant strength and patience to his family and to ND nation.
There are very few things that can make me feel sympathy for Notre Dame, but this is one of them.
October 28th, 2010 at 3:31 AM ^
This was such a senseless, avoidable tragedy. Very, very sad. Rest in peace young man. God bless him and his family.
October 28th, 2010 at 3:40 AM ^
Seeing what he posted on twitter just breaks my heart. That is so tragic and sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
October 28th, 2010 at 4:15 AM ^
Declan's family can sue ND's pants off. Winds were gusting at 50+ mph and scissor lifts shouldn't be used in winds of 25 mph or more.
According to WSBT meteorologist Rick Mecklenburg, the highest winds of the day occurred just before 5 p.m. The peak wind gust at that time was 53 mph. The highest sustained wind was just under 40 mph.
Making matters worse, the corridor just north of the Joyce Center became a wind tunnel of sorts.United Rentals provided the equipment to Notre Dame, but it is not the manufacturer. Websites of manufacturers and distributors of similar pieces warn of raising the platform in high winds.
In fact, HHS Hire, a company that deals in lifts, specifically states that the lift should never be used in wind speeds greater than 25 mph.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-video-tower-topples-at-notre-d-102710,0,7…
October 28th, 2010 at 7:22 AM ^
Negligence and lack of training. Whoever was responsible for the use of the lift should have made all operators (including this kid) aware of all safety warnings and cautions. Having been an aircraft maintenance officer in the AF in Wichita, KS (windiest damn city in the world), I always made sure my troops knew the limitations for all lifts, stands, and ladders in the wind. From that perspective, this is especially frustrating. Condolences to family and friends.
October 28th, 2010 at 9:50 AM ^
It's absolutely negligent. I'm so sorry for the family and I hope they sue the hell out of the Notre Dame AD. Utility companies and construction companies don't let peope go up in those cherry-pickers or the little scissor lifts if winds exceed a certain point.
There is no excuse for this. Just an awful story.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
October 28th, 2010 at 10:08 AM ^
I disagree about it being a freak accident. The winds were known, and the student's supervisor and the coach chose to risk his life for some video.
If RichRod had done this I would be demanding he be fired, along with the AD. Of course I thnk ND needs to fire both, now, and force the new head coach to complete 50 hours of safety training.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:30 AM ^
is max for that lift and with him standing in it its over 40. No way does anybody want to be that high with that kind of wind. I have worked off of many of those and if was windy at all we were down and looking for something to do at the ground level. RIP young man!
October 28th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
Sad sad story and it was negligent for the ND to allow someone in a scissor lift with those winds. Hell they stayed indoors on Tuesday b/c of the high wind and at least where I live the wind was worse yesterday than Tuesday.
October 28th, 2010 at 11:47 AM ^
Prayers to the family and friends
October 28th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
My house is just a couple blocks east of the stadium. Winds have been insane for the last couple days. This was so stupidly avoidable, it's just tragic.
October 28th, 2010 at 2:23 PM ^
f he is directly pressured to do something dangerous under threat of losing his job, his employer would be guilty of a willful offense and could face jail time. More common, though, is the indirect pressure of not wanting to be perceived as a coward.
Exactly. And this is why it's important for an employer to make sure his or her employees are safe. YOU are responsible for their well-being because of the economic pressures they feel.
October 28th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^
ND will most likely be found liable, as well they should. There is no excuse for this to happen. It amazes me, with all the education and information concerning safety, things like this still happen.
My prayers to the family.
October 28th, 2010 at 3:24 PM ^
I'm sorry to send this back to the top of the board
but it just makes me so sad
I can only hope and pray that Declan's parents can overcome their grief, somehow, eventually...I don't know how you can have your child taken away and live through it, but I am praying they will succeed
God Bless You Declan
October 28th, 2010 at 4:54 PM ^
I can't even fathom what he was doing up there with winds that strong. I live about thirty minutes away from South Bend and it was so windy you wouldn't have gotten me up on a six foot step ladder at gunpoint.
<br>Not sure if someone posted this already or not, but get this: Notre Dame finished their practice after he fell to his death...
October 28th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
Let's not make it worse with apparently false claims. Plenty of reports I'm reading place Kelly WITH the kid while first responders tended to him, and that when Kelly returned to the practice fields, practice was ended. To suggest that practice went on like "business as usual" after this tragedy is just fanning the flames and, according to at least a few eyewitness reports, completely false.
RIP Declan, and peace to his family in time.
October 28th, 2010 at 6:19 PM ^
That information came from WNDU's website, which is Notre Dames flagship station.
<br>If it turns out to be false then I will retract the statement.
<br>
October 28th, 2010 at 6:29 PM ^
"The tragedy happened as with about 40 minutes left in Notre Dame's practice for the day. Practice stopped for a period, but did resume."
October 28th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^
Presumably, Sullivan had to sign the document on page 13 of this PDF. There is a disturbingly ominous typo in the first paragraph:
I acknowledge that the University will not provide training for use of the Lift, that the University has available operating instructions for the life I wish to use, and warrant that I have sufficient training, knowledge and experience to operate it safely.
http://riskmanagement.nd.edu/assets/13357/aeriallift2007.pdf
October 28th, 2010 at 8:43 PM ^
That's a nice bit if research. Very eerie.
October 28th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
First of all, our prayers are with the Sullivan family.
http://mgoblog.com/content/brian-kellys-character-issues-please-help
As many of you have outlined in the attached post, Brian Kelly is known to be a taskmaster with a take-no-prisoner approach to execution. Poor Declan has probably been on the wrong end of his outbursts, and nothing, not even a death, will stop BK from getting through practice. Nothing is more important than football.
While I would prefer someone a little more human (Lloyd and Moeller for example) as my coach, it is difficult to argue with BK's results.
Ultimately, Swarbrick the AD will line up some wealthy donor, and the Sullivan family will be compensated fairly for this. There will be considerable venom directed at BK, but they will vanish once BK starts winning.