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My Saddest Day at Work
I was a third year apprentice with the Royal Electrical Engineers. I was working in the machine shop.
Stuart Gardener was a vehicle examiner and also a workmate.
Sometimes, once a week, we travelled through to Falkirk College in the same car.
Stuart was really popular. He called me Clark - Clark Gable because I had a moustache.
Stuart celebrated his 21st birthday. It was not long after that the accident happened.
Someone came up and informed us there had been a bad accident.
Then we heard there’s been an accident with the crane.
Then we heard Stuart was dead. Stuart was testing the crane with lifting weights.
The crane has four stabilisers. They were not deployed. Stuart must have been lifting several tons.
As the jib went the crane went off balance. Stuart never stood a chance. The weights fell onto the cab and Stuart was crushed to death.
The whole workshop was in a state of shock and disbelief. Hundreds of people went to his funeral including me.
I try to remember Stuart not by the tragic accident but the way he always used to call me Clark.