Daniel Madeley
18 Year Old Apprentice Toolmaker Pulled Into Horizontal Borer
Daniel Madeley was not even through his 1st year as apprentice toolmaker when he was pulled into a horizontal borer by his dust coat.
No one knows exactly how this tragedy happened because Daniel was working alone and unsupervised. His workmates only aware of something amiss when they heard loud banging. The machine had to be isolated before Daniel could be pulled free. He died the following day from massive internal injuries.
There were two employers responsible for Daniel's employment and training. The group training scheme EEAGTS pled guilty to breaches of the OHS&W Act and this matter was heard in September 2006. The host employer DIEMOULD TOOLING SERVICES spent 5 years going through various technical legal processes in the Industrial Court which ultimately ended up in the HIGH COURT of AUSTRALIA (unsuccessfully we might add). In June 2009 the matter finally went back to the South Australian Industrial Relations Court with a guilty plea. Go figure.
A MESSAGE FROM HIS MUM...
It's true what they say - you die with your child. On the outside, the shell remains...the physical body, the voice - they all seem essentially unchanged. The damage is deep inside - within your spirit. Any parent would appreciate the nightmare that would inevitably follow if they were faced with the death of a child - yet as carefully as one could try to paint a picture, it's impossible.
As time goes on you begin to feel pressured to return to some kind of normal - only, what's normal? I would guess anyone who has grieved could relate to the 'painted smile' analogy - there's a gamut of frustration and confusion...but life pushes you along and you try to conform.
I've spent many sleepless nights writing down my thoughts since Daniel died. My poems and stories have helped me to release some of the anguish - to travel back and remember details. I realise some of it is fairly raw and at times even black and ugly. I can't help that ...because as dark as it is to read, I promise, it doesn't come close to how it feels.