TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Man Impaled On Fence Was 'Just Trying To Help Out'

News Channel 8 photo by KELLEY SALVI

Willie Robinson was injured last week when he fell on a fence post. Six inches of metal was lodged in his leg.

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRIS ECHEGARAY

Published: February 6, 2008

TAMPA - Willie Robinson – the man who had his left leg impaled after falling on a spiked fence – wasn't supposed to be on his cousin's roof.

He'd had a stroke years ago that hampered his right leg, he said. But Robinson offered to help around the house because he had been living there after he lost his apartment.

A misstep caused him to stumble, slip and fall, the 46-year-old said from his hospital bed at Tampa General Hospital on Wednesday.

"I put my foot down and it happened so fast," Robinson said. "I was off the roof and on the pole. Every time I moved blood came out."

Robinson was painting his cousin's house. He had finished one side and was going to do the other. He slipped on the paint and fell, then was impaled on a fence.

The accident occurred just before 6 p.m. Jan. 31 at 3101 E McBerry St.

When paramedics arrived, they saw Robinson straddling the fence. They soon realized 6 inches of metal was lodged in his leg.

A week later, Robinson is still recovering. He said doctors are making sure the wound doesn't get infected. He'll need physical therapy.

"It's still sore," he said.

Paramedics who treated Robinson during the accident were at the hospital. Tampa Fire Rescue Lt. Natalie Brown said it's a rare occurrence when a person falls from a roof, gets impaled and lives. The paramedics gave a card with a pin of an angel to Robinson.

"You must've had an angel by your side when you fell," Brown said.

Once they saw the injury, Eric Stokes, a Tampa Fire Rescue paramedic, cut through the chain-link fence while paramedic Dennis Ponce sawed through the pole lodged in Robinson's leg.

Ponce said it took him five to eight minutes to saw through the fence.

"I didn't think he'd be able to tolerate me cutting the pole," he said. "I was halfway through and he was not complaining."

Robinson, a father of five, moved in to his cousin's house about three years ago after he lost his job. He said he worked in construction cleanup and he's now self-employed. Robinson said he had a stroke nearly 10 years ago and should've known better than to be on a roof.

"I was just trying to help out," he said. "That won't be happening again."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT