CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — A Cape Coral construction worker is speaking out for the first time about a trench collapse that changed his life.
Lewis White was working at a construction site for a new Lee Health facility on March 9 when he said a trench wall collapsed, crushing his hips. White was laying pipe in a trench that was 10 to 15 feet deep when the soil around him shifted, leaving him crushed between soil and the pipe.
“The pain was so crucified,” White said. “It was just, I’m telling, it was devastating. It was, it hurt it so bad. I just wanted to get out of there, but they, you know, they couldn’t just get in there because the wall kept collapsing.”
White was pinned for two hours and said a crew had to move the pipe he was pinned against and use a vacuum to remove dirt to free him.
During the rescue, White said he kept blacking out and there were times he thought he was going to die.
“This hit was brutal,” White said. “I’m talking about like my soul left my body. Like just everything just blacked out completely. It was terrible. All I can say, I thought it was over with half of the time.”
White was taken into surgery immediately. When he woke up, he was told his pelvis bone was broken in multiple places, resulting in a titanium plate being put in. He also has two screws in each leg but recently had to have one removed to help with numbness in his leg.
White recovered in the hospital for almost a month and was then taken to rehab where he had to re learn how to walk. White now depends on a cane and said he’s not sure he will ever be able to move the way he used to.
“It feel like being in hell, it feel like being locked up, incarcerated,” White said about his limited mobility. “Cause it just don’t, it just don’t feel normal. It’s not normal. It’s never gonna be normal.”
White has been with his wife since high school. They have a family of five and two grandchildren. White said he can no longer play with them or support them the way he wants to.
“My wife and kids are part of me,” White said. “I’ve been taking care of my kids all my life. Of course I’m gonna think about I can’t provide and do what I’m supposed to do for them anymore.”
White said he’s grateful to have his family by his side continuing to give him a reason to wake up every morning.