A Portal teen working at a Georgia Southern University construction site died Sunday, five days after an accident at the job site.
Anthony “Thomas” Puckett Jr., age 17, died Sunday at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, where he was transferred from Statesboro’s East Georgia Regional Medical Center.
According to reports from Georgia Southern University Police, Puckett was working for an electrical company contracted under Hardin Construction Company, LLC.
The electrical crew was working at the Centennial Place construction site Tuesday morning around 11:52 when an inverter weighing 2,000 pounds slipped from a forklift and landed on him.
According to Barkley Russell with The Barkley Russell Agency, Inc. & Argonne Parades, representing Hardin Construction, “An inverter is an emergency back-up power source that provides power to the emergency lights in the facility when a power failure occurs.”
GSU Police responded to the scene and found Puckett on the ground with the inverter on top of him, and several coworkers trying to remove it, reports stated.
However, according to Russell the first person on the scene, project area superintendent Shawn Callahan, found the inverter next to Puckett and moved it further away to clear room for emergency teams.
Puckett was “semi-conscious” when Bulloch County EMS arrived and transported him to the hospital.
The reporting GSU Police officer stated witnesses said they tried to stop the one-ton inverter from slipping, but could not do so.
Puckett had been wearing a hard hat when the accident occurred, reports said.
Barkley provided a statement from Hardin Construction regarding the accident: “... The incident resulted in a severe injury to a sub-contractor employee. Sadly the employee died from his injuries at a Savannah area hospital early Sunday morning, August 17. We express our sincere sympathy to the gentleman’s family. The incident is still under investigation by OSHA and we will release additional information as it becomes available.”
“Georgia Southern University extends its deepest sympathies to the
Puckett family,” said Paul Floeckher, GSU spokesman.
Puckett was a 2008 Statesboro High School honor graduate and was to begin GSU this fall. He was the son of Tony and Susan Puckett and had one sister, Megan Puckett.
Anthony “Thomas” Puckett Jr., age 17, died Sunday at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, where he was transferred from Statesboro’s East Georgia Regional Medical Center.
According to reports from Georgia Southern University Police, Puckett was working for an electrical company contracted under Hardin Construction Company, LLC.
The electrical crew was working at the Centennial Place construction site Tuesday morning around 11:52 when an inverter weighing 2,000 pounds slipped from a forklift and landed on him.
According to Barkley Russell with The Barkley Russell Agency, Inc. & Argonne Parades, representing Hardin Construction, “An inverter is an emergency back-up power source that provides power to the emergency lights in the facility when a power failure occurs.”
GSU Police responded to the scene and found Puckett on the ground with the inverter on top of him, and several coworkers trying to remove it, reports stated.
However, according to Russell the first person on the scene, project area superintendent Shawn Callahan, found the inverter next to Puckett and moved it further away to clear room for emergency teams.
Puckett was “semi-conscious” when Bulloch County EMS arrived and transported him to the hospital.
The reporting GSU Police officer stated witnesses said they tried to stop the one-ton inverter from slipping, but could not do so.
Puckett had been wearing a hard hat when the accident occurred, reports said.
Barkley provided a statement from Hardin Construction regarding the accident: “... The incident resulted in a severe injury to a sub-contractor employee. Sadly the employee died from his injuries at a Savannah area hospital early Sunday morning, August 17. We express our sincere sympathy to the gentleman’s family. The incident is still under investigation by OSHA and we will release additional information as it becomes available.”
“Georgia Southern University extends its deepest sympathies to the
Puckett family,” said Paul Floeckher, GSU spokesman.
Puckett was a 2008 Statesboro High School honor graduate and was to begin GSU this fall. He was the son of Tony and Susan Puckett and had one sister, Megan Puckett.