A moment of impact, a lifetime of lessons

I started my working life straight out of school as a sign writer. It was a job I enjoyed and one I thought I’d have for life. But when I was made redundant, everything changed. As a young man with a family to support, I took whatever work I could find – often jobs I didn’t enjoy, sometimes far from home. I was doing what I thought I had to do to provide.

By 1993, I was 24 years old and working on a construction site. That January, just after the Christmas break, I was involved in a workplace accident that would change my life forever. 

The day everything changed 

It was 03 January – a cold, foggy, icy day. The kind of day no one wants to be on a construction site. Late in the afternoon, we were asked to fix a leaking roof on a part of the building we hadn’t worked on before. It was unplanned, end-of-shift work. We were eager to please the client and thought we could get a two-hour job done in one. 

We cut corners. The ladder wasn’t secured. I climbed it anyway. 

I fell 10 feet. 

The aftermath 

The fall left me with life-changing spinal injuries. I was paralysed from the waist down. Because of this, doctors told me it would be extremely difficult to have more children. 

Turning point 

That experience was a wake-up call. My children eventually came to live with me full-time, and they became my focus. Slowly, I began to rebuild. 

In 2009, I started sharing my story. That’s when I found my real purpose. I began to understand the ripple effect of my accident, not just on me, but on my family, friends and even the company I worked for. My then father-in-law’s small business didn’t survive the aftermath. The bad publicity and loss of work were too much. 

Lessons learned 

Looking back, my accident was entirely preventable. I didn’t speak up about the safety concerns. I didn’t secure the ladder. But I also didn’t feel like I could speak up. I was young. I didn’t want to let the team down. I thought: “It won’t happen to me.” 

But the biggest factor? My wellbeing. I was struggling emotionally and mentally. I was showing up physically, but not mentally – what we now call “presenteeism”. I was overwhelmed by personal issues and didn’t feel safe or supported enough to say, “this isn’t right”.

Moving forward 

Today, I advocate for safer, more compassionate workplaces. We need environments where people feel valued and supported – where speaking up is not just accepted but expected. Where mistakes can be admitted without fear. Where wellbeing is taken seriously. 

Because when people feel safe, they make safer choices.