Declan Sullivan, Notre Dame student killed after video tower collapse, tweeted twice before fall

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Daily News

A Notre Dame student killed Wednesday in a tower collapse tapped out two chilling Twitter posts before his fatal 30-foot plunge.

In the first post, Declan Sullivan, who was perched on a scissor lift to film a Fighting Irish football practice, made a dark joke predicting his horrific fate.

"Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I’ve lived long enough," Sullivan wrote at 3:22 p.m., just as practice was getting started, CBS reported.

More than 40-minutes later, the 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was frozen with fear as wind-gusts approached 50 mph.

"Holy ---. Holy ---. This is terrifying," Declan wrote.





Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/10/28/2010-10-28_declan_sullivan_notre_dame_killed_after_video_tower_collapsed_tweeted_twice_befo.html

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Should've quit tweeting and gotten off the lift. And shame on Notre Dame officials.

[Name removed]

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[Wanet]

3. Wow, a young man is dead

This isn't the time for snark.

[Name removed]

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[Brickbat]

4. It's so sad that so many people are afraid to stand up for their own safety.

There was no reason for him to be up there.

[pattmarty]

5. Yeah but, do you remember when you were 20? That really has a.............

..........lot to do with it. I agree with what you are getting at, but in this case I don't quite think that applied. I did really stupid shit until I was 50, I ain't sayin' I shoulda just sayin' some shit is just "fate".

[timtom]

16. "There was no reason for him to be up there."

I don't mean to hijack this, but that is exactly what I think when I hear of someone(s) dying in Afghanistan or Iraq. I think, "Wow! What was he doing over (up) there -- in those conditions?"

[hedgehog]

6. I've worked in industry and clocked hundreds of hours of safety training -

obviously people are out there using industrial equipment without proper training!

All too often, people assume that their superiors know what they are doing and/or are too afraid of losing their job and/or are afraid of looking like a wimp, so they allow themselves to be put in unsafe work situations. How many people working the Horizon rig had qualms about the attitude toward proper procedures before the accident, but kept on working anyways?

[Scruffy1]

9. This was criminal

While I don't know who was in charge, there is very explicit rules about wind and vertical lifts. He was obviously not properly trained and whoever was in charge was criminally negligent.

[hedgehog]

10. I don't know if it would have helped, but we always used harnesses to strap ourselves

to the man lift. There were two people in the man lift when it fell, I wonder how the other kid is doing.

From OSHA:

A body belt shall be worn and a lanyard attached to the boom or basket when working from an aerial lift

Boom and basket load limits specified by the manufacturer shall not be exceeded.

The brakes shall be set and when outriggers are used, they shall be positioned on pads or a solid surface. Wheel chocks shall be installed before using an aerial lift on an incline, provided they can be safely installed.

http://63.234.227.130/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10754


I'm willing to bet that the Maintenance Department at Notre Dame uses these lifts safely. The Sports department shouldn't have been using this equipment if no one was even going to read the instructions!

[gratuitous]

7. He had the wherewithal to tweet

But something prevented him from coming off that tower. Astonishing. Or, maybe not.

Having been 20 years old at one time in my life, I'm going to conjecture that young Sullivan really, really liked his filming duties. It probably made him feel like part of the team, and let's face it: Notre Dame football has a certain cachet to it. Sullivan may have had a narrative in his own mind about participating in the legend of Notre Dame football, the guy who filmed a practice during the big storm.

Also, 20 years of age is a good time for feeling indestructible. Thankfully, my memory of all my exploits from that time in my life is incomplete, but what I do remember is chilling enough for the present day me. Things I did, chances I took, and so on I'd reject out of hand today. But I know better now. It's not that I was stupid, just ignorant of just how dangerous some of my choices and behavior were.

Someone in a position of authority should have prevented Sullivan from going up on the tower, or called him down once he was up there and the weather worsened. Nobody did. Sullivan may have become frozen with panic, he may have thought that as terrifying as it was, he'd get through it, or the end when it came was so fast he didn't have time to react. The tweets indicate he knew he was in danger, but at 20 years of age, he may not have had a full understanding or appreciation for the mortal peril he was in.

Notre Dame's going to get sued. And lose.

[MadMaddie]

8. I am surprised that Notre Dame did not have a policy

in place that if the wind is x mph then no one is allowed to mount the tower.

Notre Dame is going to pay out the nose on this one..

[hedgehog]

11. I'm wondering how many other college sports departments

are using similar lifts with no idea of their limits!

[MadMaddie]

13. Not just sports

Bands also use these towers, when I was in TX years ago a band leader fell off one and died.

[LisaM]

12. Everyone I know who was anywhere near the Great Lakes was taking cover

There was absolutely no reason for him to be risking his life to film a practice. I have to think that somehow they weren't following correct procedures, because I cannot believe that safety standards didn't dictate that he come down (or that he never went up to begin with).

[Angry Dragon]

14. Negligence on Notre Dame

[Divine Discontent]

15. no "investigation" is needed - any adult with a BRAIN wouldn't have let the student up there, yet,

they still put the student up there with heavy winds that were tropical storm in nature - where are the brains up there at a major college????

SHAMEFUL. And, I would have told them to stick it if they asked me to go up 30 feet on a platform to record some guys playing ball with 50 mph winds gusting!


Again, they need fined millions for this. Everyone involved in the mgmt who allowed him up there needs fired.

[Octafish]

17. They moved the practice indoors! Why did he need to be on the lift?

The poor kid should not have been on the thing at all.

[RamboLiberal]

18. I read they moved it indoors on the previous day

But this day the team was on the outdoor field.

[Octafish]

22. Thank you for the heads-up, RamboLiberal.

Poor kid. I feel so sorry for him and his family.

[Hawkowl]

19. The tweeting generation

Life is more the point and click. You have to pull your head out of your ass, be very careful, and work your ass off merely to postpone death.

My first thoughts were what in the hell is he tweeting for? Pay the fuck attention to what you are doing.

[smiley_glad_hands]

20. He should have had fall protection.

Further, Im sure the manufacturer has specifications for use in windy conditions. If he was an employee, it will be a large fine.

[Ginto]

21. The whole tower collapsed.

Unless they padded the street, it was going to be a bad.

[smiley_glad_hands]

24. Goes back to manufacturers recommendations then.

If was an employee of the school, the school will get a large fine from OSHA, ~70k.

[AngryAmish]

23. Was the kid getting paid for his work?

If so it is my understanding that under Indiana law his family will get barely enough to bury him.

It will be a worker's comp claim.