Fellow buzzer has passed

[ QUOTE ]
Like treeclimber101 has said this has affected me really hard, even though I did not personally know Cameron, I have been thinking of what I do for a living...my wife is pregnant with my third child and we expect a daughter in Feb...I could not imagine these kids growing up without a dad...though my oldest is twenty....I know this feeling will pass, however for the time being it gives me a weird feeling in my spirit...the dude was a pro who lived for his family and was very safety orientated...one lapse and his family's life is changed forever....again my utmost condolences to his four kids, wife and parents...look at the outpouring of support from tree workers all over the world....who will probably think about the way they work in a whole different manner from here on in, I know I will...climb safe my tree family.....

[/ QUOTE ]
Swing and TreeClimber101,
As I suspected, this has affected many of us the same way. I have gone through the same thought processes you talked about this week as well. On my mind constantly still. Those of us that see ourselves somewhat like Cameron (owner, climber, Dad, husband) are contemplating our occupation. Have we done it long enough? Is it time to change things? Consider this, you are still more likely to die in a car accident then at your tree work job. Are you going to stop riding in cars? Just the other week, co-worker Matt had a short day on a Friday and I sent them home. He was simply crossing the street with his fiancé to go to a restaurant, at a red light, when a car failing to see them hit Matt and bounced him off the windshield. His elbow went through the windshield. Due to the sloped car front end and him hopping up, it deflected the blows enough that he didn't die, didn't even break a bone. hit his legs, then upper body and flipped him off. If it would have been a truck or something with a flat, high front end, he would have been gone. Made me think, good grief, if he had a longer day at work climbing trees, he would not have gotten hit.
We all can be taken from this life in infinite ways and can happen at any time.
Since I didn't know Cameron, I was asking people if he was a safe person, did he take risks? Kinda hoping for myself to learn that maybe this person was unsafe or something. Time after time, everyone said that he was the last person that they thought would go doing tree work. Really safe, professional guy. Even Ed "HÖLLENREICH" from the buzz (banned) texted me and I called him yesterday. Ed said he worked with Cameron many times and Cameron was a leader in the industry. Very skilled, very safe. He also said it was the last person that he thought that it would happen to. He was concerned he might lose more friends in the future and told me to please be safe. Ed doesn't view many people as being top notch, so that was it for me. I was done looking for a reason. Well almost done, then I will be done. I thought of this while driving yesterday...

Did he use a Caritool on his belt? Was it near his side D-ring? I somehow clipped to one years ago with my lanyard. It holds for a while, like 1 to 2 minutes, then breaks. Happened to me in 2008 or so, I had my climbing line still in though. This would look like his lanyard was just dangling and never clipped in after it happens. Was his landyard still in storage position? or was the lanyard hook dangling and was there a broken caritool?

Sorry, hope this is okay to ask. Just trying to find a reason; other than forgetting to attach lanyard. This is a tree climber's forum. If there is no good reason and just simply forgot to lanyard in, I know this is still a possibility. I also wondered if he had a cold or was on some cold medicine or something, as many of us are sick on the East Coast right now.

Evaluate your life and direction, but realize we don't know what will end our life. Be safe, cherish your family and loved ones. Have your soul prepared to be judged if you should go tomorrow and "don't fear the reaper."

If you love this work, you mind as well continue instead of hiding in a padded room worrying about death.

Brings a video to mind I happened to watch about a week ago on youtube. The wife at 9:42 pretty much said she wouldn't change her husband from riding if she could and does not think the race should be banned; despite losing her husband.
(the Isle of man TT race is much more dangerous than what we do of course):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7HlrI1COSs
 
He never attempted to lanyard in X and he didn't have a caritool on his saddle.

He just repelled down into a crotch. Stood there, never put his lanyard around the tree, pulled his climbing line from the ball and leaned back to find that he had forgotten to lanyard in...
 
I didn't know Cameron apart from his posts on the Buzz. When I was getting my website done I sent the techie lady a link to Cameron's as an example of something I wanted her to come up with.

Cameron's fall has hit me hard in realizing how easily a momentary lapse in concentration could result in devastating consequences. Over the years I have accepted close calls and near misses as just part of the game. (As if the odds don't apply to me, because I'm somehow immune, or only incompetent people make mistakes that get them hurt/killed) I have mentioned what happened to Cameron to several other fellows I work with, and I'm determined to place a far greater emphasis on safety and working safe. Stuff like cellphones getting turned off, hard hats mandatory, etc.
 
Of my friend and little brother I can only say this I will miss him. I struggle everyday to understand the meaning in this .To hard for me to even talk about.I will help his family in any way I can
 
I came on treebuzz on Saturday, because I was thinking about Cameron and wanted to look at some of the pictures of his equipment. I'm still in shock that something like this could happen to such an experienced veteran. I never met Cameron, but I spoke with him on the phone for an hour or two in the spring, and this has hit me hard.

My deepest sympathies go out to his wife and kids.
 
In fairness to X mans questions I feel that a person like myself who has professionally climbed since 1980 should share my thoughts on why I think it happened. Like X , I want to know why it happened . Just a part of me that needs to know. Like X , I have talked to people who were in his circle . Cripe , Like X said ,a professional . When I started climbing as a child, because my father owned a business, I free climbed for years. Like a dog in heat running up a tree. We would throw our lines over a limb, thrust our hips up and sit on a limb and continue. Large trees. Never tied into the tree till we were at the top. I free climbed trees till I went to Bartlett in 1987, they said son, you can run up a tree but you need to be tied in! . I got a safety line, at my Dads company they called it a fag line. My point is , if you are a natural free tree climber , which a lot of us our but won’t admit , you tend to rest on a crotch , stand there and really not notice or care that you are fifty or a hundred feet in the air . My thoughts are that he was a great climber , was in a good spot , didn’t safety in , tugged on his line and maybe it got snagged and when he gave it a real tug , threw him off balance . I apologize to any one if this offends, but I just believe he was a good climber and giving him the benefit of the doubt that he would forget to lanyard (safety) in. My thoughts on that, and again, no intention to offend, just feeding off of Xman , . Trying to find a reason other than WTF.
 
I think we want to believe that whatever caused this tragedy wouldn't or couldn't possibly happen to us. Can anyone say that they are 100% focused on what they are doing, 100% of the time aloft? No distractions getting in the way of their thought process? I can't, so the scenario of a veteran tree climber forgetting to lanyard in is entirely plausible to me.
 
To add to that, he was also burdened with running a business. This in itself could be a major distraction.

For me it drives home the absolute importance of being consciously in the moment. I mentally go through each step of a process as I'm about to perform them so as not to miss one. It's the momentary distraction that killed him. Terrible loss for his family and a brutal lesson for us.

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."

C. S. Lewis
 
RIP Cameron,
My company had been raising money for the Movember cause but after this tragedy coincided with the start time we decided to divert the funds to the Lyons family children. If anyone would care to donate follow the link below. We are trying to raise 5K and are already at almost 1K. After 30 days we will send the funds to Mrs Lyons.

http://fundly.com/preservation-tree-charity-for-the-lyons-children?ft_pid=qd3p2nha
 
I've known Caneron for about 8 years, We've worked together a lot on many large technical trees and I can say he had a head on shoulders and a concern for safety. He was professional in every way. For most of us climbing is a way to earn money but I never met anyone who loved this work as much as Cameron.

I walked away from climbing 7 years ago when my son passed, I didn't want to gamble anymore. I still climb two days a week and the rest of my time I'm an instructor flying a citation sovereign jet, anything is possible.
 
My thoughts and heart on the matter are similar to many here...I simply cannot stop thinking about Cam,I see his smiling face in my minds eye.
Ias i unpack this scenario in my head and disuss with my staff we seem to have landed at the same place....close to what Riggs had said....I have had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since hearing the news on Thursday ...He and I texted one another on Wednesday..He reached out just to say "whats up? Been a while since we chatted" Big sigh.....I just am not sure what it all means???!!
 
I gave a few presentations this weekend in NE. I asked for a moment of silence in Cam's memory and fought hard not to shed a tear in front of the group. This thread makes it impossible. As many have said, please find something good in this and try to not duplicate this tragedy. Share the story and understand that we are all susceptible to such an incident. We owe it to Cam to make sure that someone is saved by this incident.
 
I've been trying to get on this board ever since I heard about Cameron. I was with my insurance agent when I got the call. I've been sick to my stomach over the whole thing. I had the pleasure of knowing and working with him for a little bit. I haven't talked to him in a couple of years but I would see his caravan on the road and we would always wave. Every time I would be up against him for an estimate I would tell the homeowner that you for the opportunity and leave. In my market he was one of the few who did it right. Some of the lesser tree guys would wonder how he was so successful and have all kinds of speculations to as why. I knew it was because he was honest and treated people with respect. Most of all he was a man of his word. No big mystery. I only wish we have kept in touch. R.I.P. brother say hi to Earl for me.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hey folks.

It appears that the Lyons family has opted to have a private ceremony.

I am in talks with a few local arborists to possibly have something for us to be able to get together and show our respects. I will keep everyone updated with what's going on. I

It would be really cool to meet some of you South Jersey folks I'm seeing post up here too.

[/ QUOTE ]

how about the philly guys too ! set up a beef and beer and let's get together . Didn't know him personally but he was a friend of my brothers and a lot of people I know . Get a hold of Marlinspiker Marc ( he's got my number , i'm serious ) , and lets make this happen .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom