I know every body, has a sob story. But I think I was treated unfairly, unjust, and very cruel. This is a true story, it really happened, and it really happened to me. I know every business, only have one real goal. “Profit” but when work conditions are so poor, I ended up in the hospital, and suffer in all ways possible. I remember the date that night because it was the 6th day of the 6th month. And we had pulled orders that began with 666 on the computer. I don’t attend service but I Believe in the higher power so that was strange to me. I the night although strange because of the computer orders, but more the less your typical night.
Come in, Punch your card, and do the same thing over again every day. It was all hard work, with its good days and bad days. Also where I am from the money was good also. I also had a new wife, “my one and only”,” “my better half” “the love of my life”. She had not one, but two buns in the oven, almost ready to serve. It was pretty much a mindless job but it gives you time to think, mostly about what we where going to do on my days off. And how big the total order load was for the night.
At the time I was happy with my job, and the way my life was going. The only thing that got to me then was the long nights, after the long night before that. My cousin that I grew up with worked their and their where plenty of new friends to be made.
My two beautiful girls where born, the best and the scarcest day of ever especially new daddy’s life. Even that day was odd, for the reason one of my new buddy’s wife, where up they’re for her planned C-section. After that every thing in the world where right for me. All though I am a worrier, I had no major worries at the time. My life made since and I had a reason for the world then. Life went on for a couple month, work was the same the work days got longer and the sleep got a whole lot less, come home to my beautiful wife and my precious daughters. Eat dinner, hold my girls, and kiss my wife. I felt Good I was supporting my family every Good family man dreams of.
That night of the 6th day of the 6th month started normal enough. My cousin Joe and I rode to work together, talking about the day ahead, old times, and comparing old stories on the way. The day went by like always. , Since we all had to ride around on motorized pallet jack vehicles. The isle where the product was kept where long for the orders we filled we didn’t get to speak much. “We had a 100 cases a hour for a quota” which should be have been simple enough for me, if the computers clock kept running even through your break and lunch half hour. I can’t explain the day in detail up to the accident that I remember and will never forget. One of the guys got his finger cut and had be taken to the hospital. At our 12 o’clock break I went like everyday to our sitting place, talking to our friends about who pulled the fast, bragging on what we had done the night before. All while smoking two cigarettes. Break time was over and because every one scatter from the break room to the parking lot, I was about one half to one third of the people going back to the jack room, where our jack would charge while break. I remember glancing up at this guy, going back to the freezer section through the isle. On his freezer jack, with his dairy shipping box, which is like a thick fiberglass refrigerator on wheels. The people in front and behind me where all bunch together in order to get to our charge station and get back to work.
As I walk past a pallet full of filled boxes, I hear a great Boom, I have never heard a bomb blow up but id say the sound of the metal fork slamming into the wooden pallet unsafely discard half way in the isle at 30 - 40 mpg sounds pretty close. I look up for a split second, and all I can feel that instant was like a baseball bat to my face. Then I remember getting up off the stack atop of the pallet. My eyes where blurry and I thought for some reason I had to go outside, I ended up getting about half way to the door. When the room started spinning around me with my legs week I came close to blacking out again. By the time I got to the stairs to sit down, I couldn’t make out the guys around me asking was I ok. After about 10 or 15 minutes all I felt was numb. So I went back to work, my supervisor gave me a pretty small order to pull. It wasn’t until I got the isle where I had to swing my arm out to make the turn of the isle I needed to be in the pain set it. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back hitting a nerve down my arm. I report back to my supervisor and tell him of the problem and he ask me if I where able to drive myself to the hospital, I Didn’t think I would be able to, so he sent one of the supervisor he was over. After I set at the hospital from 12 that night till 12 the next morning after getting up about 12 the morning before. They done the ex rays and the ct scans. And as ironic as it sounds the guy that cut the tip of his finger off was in the room across from me. Days went by and I thought I should report back to work, while I still had a job. Even though sore and in pain I was strong so I thought I could make it. The truth is I couldn’t. I report the main supervisor and tell him I need to go home, and he approves it. I call almost every on I could, finally after getting up with my dad. He said he would come and get me after he got off at 4 o’clock which it was like 1 at the time and at least a 40 minute drive I had to sit their and hold my head outside. Finally dad came and I had to make another trip to the ER. Even after that entire ordeal. I tried to go back to work, Even though at times my back was unbearable, and my job was mostly lifting things. I thought of my family. I know from before in my life as a kids being let down was a very hard thing to go through, so daddy had to work.
At the point I just couldn’t go back into work. I went and seen my dr. I told her what happened so she gave me a month to go to therapy and rest. I had not every been injured seriously at work. So I didn’t know what I support to do. All I thought was to see my dr. and do the therapy. The first day I was support to go to get my therapy. I over slept and had to rescale. The day before my rescaled appointment I cleaned my car out and since it was a nice day I thought id take it to the car wash. About a mile down the road I lose control of the car go in a ditch, then through a Colbert. The impact hit so hard it pushed the wheel back into my wife’s ankle and broke the bone on the inside and the outside. So for the next few weeks I have to take her for surgery around a 150-mile trip, and take care of her and my new twin babies all at the same time, while I was in serious pain myself.
About two more weeks pass, it was couple week till I returned on light duty. Walking over a huge building while bending over picking up trash. I hated leaving my wife to with two baby girls and her with a broken leg. About week or two passes. We noticed one of our babies was staring blankly at the ceiling. After I few days my mother who had seen people having seizures said she was having one. We rush her to the Dr. where her seizures get worse. She starts to tighten her neck, arms and legs, all at once. She had one at in front of her Dr., and she confirmed it. The worst feeling in the world knowing one of your babies has something wrong, and may not be with you very long. We take her to hospitals for weeks at time but her seizures just gets worse and longer. While one of the visits to the hospital my workplace called my dr. and since I hadn’t be able to see her, she assumed I was able to report back to work. And my workers I only received one of two monthly works comps check. So she released me without notifying me. Finally after one of my babies useless stays in the hospital for a week we get to bring her home where she is just as worse as she went in. I get a message on my answering machine telling me to report to work to speak with my boss and the human resources lady. I told them about what all had happened. And from what I understood, which was a comment my boss made was we are invested in you and I’m sorry about your family, but only I was important for them and I had to go back to work regardless So I had to go back to work. Being only 19 at the time I didn’t know what to do. So I went to see my dr. and by then my back pain were still as bad and my nerves where all tore up. She said I could take some sort of family medical leave, Even though I had worked their longer than 75% of the people their, was hired as a full time employee and got my insurance from them. I could apply for the family medical leave act because I wasn’t there long enough. Even that my daughter was having over twenty seizures a day.
So as bad as I hated it I was going to have to go back, my workweek began on Sunday, but Saturday night she just kept getting worse so we rushed her to the ER. My wife stayed home with our other baby to tend to. But after they admitted her into the hospital about 12 am Sunday, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to work. So I call my wife and tell her to notify my job and tell them I have to stay with my infant in the hospital. Just to make sure they got it I had a nurse fax them a statement notifying them about the situation. Regardless they told my wife if I was not their Monday I would be fired. Monday came at the hospital I faxed another excuse that I was still with my baby. The boss then notified my wife I was fired. So what was I to do now, no job, no way to pay the bills, buy diapers. Seeing my Baby lying their having seizures every hour, I felt lower than low. I wasn’t able to pack her because of my arm and back. I couldn’t play with my other daughter like a good daddy. I was useless. I went into a deep depression. Even though I wasn’t receiving income but only for 2 weeks for the month I was off. What then.
I do not blame the company for my baby getting sick, but just a few simple rules informed with some real safety. I would have never had so much physical pain with mantel pain overlapping it. I do blame them for that. My wife would have been able to stay with our baby in the hospital and taken care of the other to, but since they didn’t allow her to do so because of her freshly broken leg she couldn’t do much for the baby in the hospital room.
Another few months went by so I sought out an attorney, He filled a claim and sent me to his son the chiropractor for treat. But with no money to buy gas to even go to my medical DR. and chiropractor. I simply couldn’t. So I got even worse depress. My baby was still sick, my wife’s legs was still broke, I stayed in pain and couldn’t even pack them or hold them long, I feel they stole one of what should have been a best part of my life. I went to their dr. with the workers comp gas money check they sent. I tried to go to my dr. but even she told me there was nothing that she could do for me.
My first deposition came but I had to reschedule it since my daughter had to go to a different hospital. Those hospital stays even as tiring as they can be really help my baby. But where she had those seizures, they had to put a feeding tube down her nose and neck. Then a few weeks past and I made my depiction, I told what happened to me, and for some reason the workers comp lawyer asked if I was getting a physiological evaluation. My lawyer seemed to think, I didn’t need one, I couldn’t get any help, and I just couldn’t win. I couldn’t get my medical evidence together then, so they offer my 6000 to walk away. And the lawyer got 1200. So my life, my family life, all of our happiness is worth 4800 dollars to this company. I never even got an “I’m sorry this happened”. I just feel I was abused. Mistreated, which lead me to a dark depression. Not being able to get out of bed, not being able to sleep for my back and arms. Just my life was over at 19 when I had every important to me to look forward to, and 4800 dollars is worth the rest of my life.
