Bradford & District | Archive | 2002 | April | 2
From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Tuesday 2nd Apr 2002.
A welder died from a rare condition after breaking his leg in a workplace accident, an inquest heard.
Anthony Holmes developed the problem, known as "shock lung", following surgery at Airedale Hospital.
The condition first came to prominence during the Vietnam War, when young soldiers died after treatment for bullet wounds or broken limbs.
Mr Holmes, 29, was struck by a 450kg steel sheet when it slipped from a clamp attached to a crane, Bradford Coroner's Court was told.
He managed to drag himself from under the plate following the incident at Atlantic CSP Ltd, in Airedale Road, Keighley, last October.
He was taken to Airedale Hospital and underwent surgery the following day on a fractured femur.
But after the operation he suffered a cardiac arrest, and despite efforts to resuscitate him he died later that evening.
Consultant histopathologist Dr John O'Dowd said Mr Holmes had suffered major trauma to his body after a fat embolism travelled from the broken bone in his leg to blood vessels in the lung.
He said the condition was well known, but rare.
A post-mortem examination showed that Mr Holmes, of Thorncliffe Road, Fell Lane, Keighley, died from shock lung due to the fat embolism.
Work colleague Craig Bell was operating the crane when he saw the incident unfold.
He told the inquest jury that Mr Holmes had been grinding the metal plate before fastening it to a clamp.
Mr Bell used the crane to lift the object and both men held the plate to stop it spinning. But as it was being raised from the ground it began to slip.
"It dropped two inches to the ground," said Mr Bell. "I pushed Anthony as the plate fell, but it caught him on the hip."
Health and Safety Executive inspector Julian Franklin said he felt that a lack of training might have contributed to the accident.
He added that basic rules on the use of lifting equipment would include not standing next to anything being raised.
The jury returned a misadventure verdict.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008