About this Event
Here’s a tightened, clearer, and grammatically corrected version that keeps the emotional weight while improving flow and professionalism:
On July 29, 1999, seventeen-year-old Curtis Weber was on his third day at a new job as a construction laborer in Saskatchewan, Canada. He planned to spend one final summer at home after graduating high school before moving away to play Junior A hockey. Instead, a near-fatal workplace incident nearly ended his young, promising life.
After a long and demanding day, Curtis and his co-workers found themselves behind schedule and feeling pressure to pick up the pace. The next task they faced would be the last they attempted that day: using a crane to move a steel structure beneath an overhead power line. Before beginning, they briefly discussed how to complete the task and acknowledged the risks. “But we had a job to get done. We were already behind. We identified the hazard. We assessed the risk. What more could we have done?”
Without a documented plan—or a clear discussion of who would do what, when, and where—they proceeded as they had many times before, just as countless others have.
As the load approached the power line, Curtis grabbed the steel structure to steady it against the wind. Then the predictable happened. The preventable happened. Curtis became the ground path as more than 40,000 volts of electricity surged through his body. Engulfed in a ball of fire, he was thrown violently four to five feet off the ground as three cycles of 14,400 volts passed through him, according to a co-worker’s account. Curtis lay motionless—unresponsive and not breathing.
After multiple attempts to revive him on site, Curtis was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival, doctors gave his family no hope for survival. But Curtis wasn’t done fighting. It was as if his purpose had not yet been fulfilled—he was needed for something greater.
Curtis will share his powerful journey, along with the experiences of his family and co-workers, to inspire meaningful change at your workplace.
As in the past, the Symposium schedule is as follows:
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM - Vendor Booths Open
12:00 PM - Buffet Lunch Available
12:30 PM - Program Begins
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Pinnacle Center, 3330 Highland Drive, Hudsonville, United States
USD 0.00
