Contractor, a dad of two, is killed by bursting water pipe cap, Wisconsin cops say
_fitted.png "A Wisconsin contractor was fatally struck by a water main cap while working at a road construction site in Pleasant Prairie, officials say. He was also a husband and father of two.")
A husband and father of two was struck and killed by a water main cap at a construction site in Wisconsin, officials say.
Officers with the Pleasant Prairie Police Department responded to the site of a road construction project at about 3 p.m. Sept. 13, after an injury was reported, the department said in a news release.
The man, later identified as 34-year-old Cody Nelson, “suffered serious injuries” and died at the scene, police said.
Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also arrived at the scene, and the agency is leading an investigation into the incident, according to police.
Nelson was working on a water main at the construction site when he was fatally struck, according to a Department of Labor news release.
“The new section of watermain was capped about 8 weeks ago after installation of about 1000 feet of new pipe that was an extension of an existing pipe,” the release said. “When the worker went to remove the cap to continue work on the pipe, the pressure from the water blew the cap off and struck the worker.”
OSHA has six months to carry out its investigation and to determine if there were any safety violations at the site, according to the release.
Nelson leaves behind a wife and two children, according to his obituary.
“He loved the outdoors and hunted, fished, and snowboarded avidly. He was a great vocalist, singing in bands with his family from childhood on,” the obituary read, but “Cody loved his family most of all.”
Family and friends, including Nelson’s 48 cousins, have rallied around his wife and kids following his death, WTMJ reported.
“We called him the In-Cody-ble Hulk,” cousin Kent Sanderson told the outlet. “He was our bulldog. When things get really tough and you want to give up, he pushed through it and we always got it done. He’s going to be so missed.”
Pleasant Prairie is roughly 35 miles south of Milwaukee.
This story was originally published September 18, 2023 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Contractor, a dad of two, is killed by bursting water pipe cap, Wisconsin cops say."