'I thought, 'I'm done': Sask. father of two recovers from workplace accident
A freak accident on a job site has a North Battleford family trying to pick up the pieces.
Manjinder Singh is a husband and father of two and on Aug. 23, his world changed.
“I heard screaming, yelling and I was screaming and crying,” Singh recalls of the rainy day where his crew was building a horse arena near Cochin Lake.
He was pinned in the mud and didn’t know if he was going to make it.
Between 10 to 30 trusses, each weighing 600 pounds, had fallen on him, he told CTV News.
Crews worked for an hour and a half to try and free him.
The pain was unbearable, Singh recounts, as he was going in and out of consciousness.
“I thought, ‘I’m done, I’m dead.’ First, I thought I should just stop breathing. Then I think about my family and say, no I have to be strong and stay awake.”
His wife Amanda was at home with their two kids, three and 11, when she got the call from his boss.
“He’s been hurt, and you need to get there right away,” she remembers.
She raced to the hospital to see her husband.
“They told me what had happened and that he had a broken back. The vertebra burst into little pieces and a piece hit his spinal cord,” she says.
They don’t know if he’ll ever walk again.
The family just bought a home. The plan was for Singh to do the renovation work. Now he works to rehabilitate his body.
Recently, they had a glimmer of hope – he can wiggle a toe.
With the family’s only income now eliminated and travel costs for daily trips to Saskatoon mounting, family members have set up a Go Fund Me page to help.
With no word on how long Singh will be in hospital, the family waits.
Their 11-year-old is old enough to realize the severity of the situation but the younger one is still trying to process it.
“My son keeps saying, daddy’s ok, daddy’s ok, right?”
Do you have a story idea or news tip? Email us.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
China's latest EV is a 'connected' car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars.