Chad Weller was a communication tower technician. He worked to bring you the cell service you use every day to text your friends or navigate your route to work. He loved his job, and he took great pride in providing this service for you and me.

Chad had a heart of gold and a contagious smile. It was a smile that could brighten anyone’s day. He dreamed of being in the U.S. Navy, a place where he could serve his country with dignity and honor. He had plans to enlist this summer.

Chad never got the chance to fulfill that dream, because on March 19, 2014 he was killed in a tragic fall. The job he loved so much took his life and my only son. I will never see his smile again, his two sister’s will never hear his laugh and all his friends and family will never get the chance to see him grow into the man he aspired to be.

I’ll never see him fall in love and get married, or play with the children he hoped to have some day. The light Chad brought to this world went out on that day in March, and I will never be the same. I lost my baby boy, my best friend and my hero, and what upsets me the most is that his death was senseless and preventable.

Chad was sent up a tower by himself in hazardous weather conditions wearing a harness that was two sizes too big for him. The tower was icy, a condition made worse by a sudden onslaught of rain, but still my son was told to climb.

Click here to read the rest of the post on the DOL blog.

Click here to read about a new initiative to prevent falls in the telecommunications industry.