Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
The weight of the mud which buried WASA worker Kern Etienne damaged his spinal cord breaking it in two places. This was revealed by the autopsy done on his body at the Point Fortin Mortuary yesterday.
Etienne’s nephew, Jamal Sparks, said relatives were not allowed to view the autopsy but a doctor explained to them what went wrong.
“He told us between the fourth and fifth thoracic spine broke off and lower down the spine also broke off clean. His whole spinal cord was shattered by how everything came down on top of him,” Sparks said.
Struggling to hide his pain, he added: “He did not suffer. He died one time upon the impact. It had no chance of survival down there.”
Etienne’s mother Joyce Grant-Roberts said his funeral will take place on Monday at 2 pm at Guides Funeral Home.
“Today was a very hard day, the autopsy was done. Now funeral arrangements are being made. WASA is footing the expenses of the funeral,” she said.
Grant-Roberts said so far no investigators from WASA or the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) have spoken to her or her family and she remains very concerned about how WASA has been executing work at various job sites.
A former inspector with the Occupational Safety and Health Agency Saffraz Ali said there were irregularities in the manner WASA covered over the trench immediately after the incident.
“Once any fatality occurs, they are supposed to inform OSHA and the accident scene is supposed to be preserved. As stated in the OSH Act, no one is to tamper with the accident scene,” he said.
He added: “The fact that the hole was covered in an unfortunate development. The evidence has now been covered up.”
Etienne, a father of two, died on Sunday while he and a crew were doing emergency repairs on a sewer line connecting the San Fernando Licensing Office to Cipero Road.
