Author -
Submitted By -This tribute goes out on behalf Douglas Ray "Dink" Eddins. Dink, as he was known by amongst his friends and family, paid the ultimate price due to a serious management error within the C.W. Wright Construction Company, Chesterfield Country Virginia, and contractor for Virginia/Dominion Power.
There is no excuse whatsoever for the mistake that led up to the death of this young man. At the age of Twenty, Dink was working his way through the ranks. Exceptional skills and confidence in everything he could learn about the job, working as a 3rd class lineman, and doing the work of a first class, Dink was removing the grounds off of a static transmission line while his 1st class lineman sat on the ground and watched. Since the grounds had been placed on the line using a bucket truck, there was a bit of difficulty removing them with a shot-gun stick standing on the tower. The angle was all wrong and impossible for even those of us with years of experience. So what
does Doug attempt to do? Exactly what he had seen his 1st class lineman, and so many others that worked on the same crew, Dink attempted to loosen the ground just enough by hand so that he could move it a little closer without breaking the connection.
Dink's foot slipped off of the primary insulator and his leg made
contact with the primary line, making a life stop so short of the inevitable potential that this young man had in him. Dink never felt a thing, I'm sure of that. With three 500 kv lines not too far away, the simple static alone was more than imaginable. I have not only lost a true friend, but I've lost the little brother that I never had. I went to his viewing service, as well as his funeral, but the person that I knew was not laying there. His burnt body perhaps, but not the kid I know. He is forever a part of my life, and forever burned into my mind and in my heart. He will greatly be missed.
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