Please Be Careful

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

It is really hard for me to write this but I feel it is something we all need to be reminded of from time to time. I was searching google for an old friend and found this;

Freak accident kills Middleboro man, 19

A 19-year-old local man died when part of his Ford Mustang he was working on at his father's business fell and struck him on the neck, authorities said.

Sean M. Ewas of 7 Webster St., who was alone when the accident happened, was found by some friends at 3:52 p.m. Friday when they returned to the family-operated business at 4 Vine St. after buying parts, police Lt. Bruce D. Gates said.

Middleboro Detective Robert W. Lake called in the state police Crime Prevention and Control Unit. In a joint investigation by Lake and state Trooper Diane M. Lilly, it was determined Ewas was working underneath the car on his Mustang's rear suspension.

As he worked, a cut from a Saws-All tool caused a rear spring to push down on the rear sway bar, which is mounted to the frame under the car to help keep the vehicle from rolling on corners. In the accident, the sway bar came down on Ewas' neck and killed him, police said.

He was declared dead at the scene and taken to a Boston medical examiner's office after the investigation.

Police delayed releasing any information about the incident until this morning because the man's father was out of the country, in China, and the family was waiting for his return. Sean Ewas was the son of John and Rose Ewas, with whom he lived.

John Ewas had been in Singapore on business when the accident took place.

"Sean worked for me last week," said his father from his Vine Street business, Contrade, a container brokering company. "I had just bought this yard a couple months ago and we were going to build this business together."

Sean was going to handle the retail end of the business, John Ewas said.

"He had been running the business this past week for the first time, all on his own," Ewas said. "He did an admirable job."

Sean was a 2003 graduate of Middleboro High School. He loved 5.0 Mustangs and had two of them, his father said.

"He had a great sense of humor," Ewas said. "He was a lot of fun."

His mother, Rose Ewas, said her son's friends came to their house last night.

"He loved his friends, and his friends loved him," Rose said. "They laughed about how daring he was. With Sean, there was never a dull moment."

Rose said her son loved Mustangs and English bulldogs.

"He was doing what he loved when he passed," Rose said. "He truly had one of the most compassionate hearts I know."

In addition to his parents, he is survived by a sister, Anastassia Ewas, 21, of Middleboro.

Funeral arrangements are with Dahlborg-McNevin Funeral Homes Inc. of Lakeville.

Sean was a classmate and friend of mine. His father is a friend of my father. I went to high school in Middleboro and thinking back to when this happened, I realize how immature I was at that age. I thought to myself, that will never happen to me. Only later in life did I realize, yes, we are all immortal. Seeing this on google was a staunch reminder. My goal in posting this is not to scare or discourage anyone, merely press upon you; Please be careful. To you my GM brotheren I raise a . To our trucks; may we be good to them and they to us, and may we be safe in working on them.

dietz4ibanez · September 21, 2008

wow, dude sorry about the loss of your friend!

stadt11 · September 21, 2008

I too knew a guy who was killed in a similar manner, it was during high school. He was home alone and had his Trans Am on jackstands, working underneath on the tranny, when one of the stands collapsed and crushed him underneath.

Thanks for the reminder Robert. Everyone, please remember to be careful, check all safety angles before you work underneath your vehicle.

Also, make sure you always have someone around when you are working on your vehicle, just in case something did happen to you. Be Careful Out There!

minibike132 · September 21, 2008

Sorry for your loss Robert. To back up Andy, Please do have someone else around with any repairs that could be a hazzard in any way. I have keys to the shop and lots of times want to go in and crank out some work to make some money but it's just not worth it. I heard a tech scream MOVE at the other end of the shop one day just before a car came crashing down off a rack. The only reason that tech is alive is someone else was there. Getting it done now instead of when someone is around to watch your back just isn't worth it sometimes.

pennzoil29 · September 21, 2008

Sorry to here of the loss of an old friend. To many of us take for granted, "while working on our vehichles" that every thing is safe. I do a lot of maintenance on vehichles, and never gave this much thought. I have a different out look now. Thanks for posting this.

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

I too knew a guy who was killed in a similar manner, it was during high school. He was home alone and had his Trans Am on jackstands, working underneath on the tranny, when one of the stands collapsed and crushed him underneath.

Thanks for the reminder Robert. Everyone, please remember to be careful, check all safety angles before you work underneath your vehicle.

Also, make sure you always have someone around when you are working on your vehicle, just in case something did happen to you. Be Careful Out There!

That is probably THE most important thing anyone can take away from this. Having someone around to help you (even if you do get into trouble) can mean the difference between life and death.

VMax2007 · September 21, 2008

I too have a story that I am not proud of. But the ending is much better and luck (and a higher power) was looking out for us. It was about 1983 or so, I was helping a friend fix his old Ford LTD. It ran good, but was a rustbucket. The floors were rusted through severely and the seats were literally about to go through the floor. So, we had the seats out and we were replacing the floor. We were likely drinking/smoking pot while doing this. We needed to go get something from the store (it was 26 years ago, I have no clue what, it doesn't matter). So, we set a milk crate in there and drove it. Well, if that wasn't stupid enough, we decided to make it a 2-man operation. Since I could not see very well while sitting on the milk crate and reaching the pedals we decided I would do the steering while he lay across the now-wide-open floor operating the gas and brake pedals with his hands. We were driving very slowly (obviously) and then we drove past another friends house and I noticed Joe was also working on his car. It was jacked up with a bumper jack and I saw Joe lying underneath the car. I told Larry I was pulling into Joe's driveway to shoot the shit with him, he said ok. He needed to follow my verbal commands as he could not see where we were going. So, I pulled in, told him to slow down, he did. Then I said "Stop" when we were right behind Joe's car, he didn't, so I said "STOP"!!! again, he tried but it was too late and we lightly bumped Joe's car. Joe flew out from underneath that car so f*cking fast I about shit my pants. As he lept to his feet he instinctively threw his combination wrench he was holding right at the windshield, breaking it. We were NOT laughing. Joe then told us he was lying under there with a cross member about 1 inch above his head when the car rocked. If it had fallen, he would surely be dead. We apologized and he could see we truly were sorry and his anger did not last too long. It was truly a scary situation.

Now, we all realized lying under a car with only a bumper jack holding it up was stupid, but what we did, did not compare. We almost killed our friend with our teenage stupidity.

I will never forget that day.

dietz4ibanez · September 21, 2008

When I was younger I thought Jack stands were a waste of time but from hearing multiple like accidents I always use my jack-stands every time a jack up a car/truck!!

VMax2007 · September 21, 2008

When I was younger I thought Jack stands were a waste of time but from hearing multiple like accidents I always use my jack-stands every time a jack up a car/truck!!

Yeah, me too, in fact I even use them when I drive up on my ramps. I do not trust the construction of the welded sheet metal ramps, so I drive up and then put the jack stands under the A-arms. Redundancy is a good thing.

dietz4ibanez · September 21, 2008

When I was younger I thought Jack stands were a waste of time but from hearing multiple like accidents I always use my jack-stands every time a jack up a car/truck!!

Yeah, me too, in fact I even use them when I drive up on my ramps. I do not trust the construction of the welded sheet metal ramps, so I drive up and then put the jack stands under the A-arms. Redundancy is a good thing.

Really... Yeah I bought those plastic ramps and now you are starting to make me wonder if I should be doing the same... I know that the black truck is high enough I dont have to jack it up in the air for an oil change...

But if I do put my trucks on those ramps I will for sure use my jack stands now!

merlin5577 · September 21, 2008

I agree. When it comes to working under a vehicle you can never be too careful. When I jack up my trucks, I use my 4 ton jack, lock it in the up position, and then use two 4 ton jack stands as well. Better safe then sorry.

Thank you all for your posts. I appreciate everyone input, stories, and experiences. Sean was my friend, and yes he made a mistake. He paid for that mistake with his life. I hope that someone, somewhere, reads this thread, uses this information, and makes the right decision. Be safe out there folks.

pm26 · September 21, 2008

I just want to add this:

Car coils springs are extremely dangerous and should be removed only with a proper coil spring compressor. These are different from McPherson strut spring compressors. I heard of several accidents where people were killed by being struck in the head or chest by a car coil spring when it violently decompressed. Using wrong tools most of the time.

Outbacker · September 22, 2008

To you my GM brotheren I raise a . To our trucks; may we be good to them and they to us, and may we be safe in working on them. [/font]

Amen. Sorry to hear about the loss of a friend, and may we are be careful and take that extra second to think about what we are doing before we do it, just to ensure that there are no adverse effects to our actions.

merlin5577 · September 22, 2008

To you my GM brotheren I raise a . To our trucks; may we be good to them and they to us, and may we be safe in working on them. [/font]

Amen. Sorry to hear about the loss of a friend, and may we are be careful and take that extra second to think about what we are doing before we do it, just to ensure that there are no adverse effects to our actions.

Amen.