Kris Coste was injured while pouring concrete at a Madeira Park jobsite on June 14
Less than a week after a Sunshine Coast worker was taken to hospital with critical injuries, the community has rallied — and raised more than $50,000 to support the family.
As of June 20, 309 donations have raised $51,320 in an online fundraiser. A series of donation pots printed by Sechelt Signs have also been set up at the Halfmoon Bay General Store, Rona in Sechelt, Paul’s Paintin’ Place, both locations of Gibsons Building Supplies, Habitat for Humanity, Custom Flooring Centre and SunCo Building Materials.
The fundraiser is being organized by Chris Addy, a contractor who began working with Kris Coste, an independent contractor, a few months ago on the new Halfmoon Bay General Store.
The funds follow the news that a worker was critically injured at a Madeira Park jobsite on Pollock Road on June 14. A cement pumper truck was pumping over a house to a swimming pool that was being built, when it broke and struck a worker, Pender Harbour Volunteer Fire Department fire chief Jim Cameron told Coast Reporter.
At 4:51 p.m. that day, BC Emergency Health Services was called to a worksite in Madeira Park to transport two people to hospital.
Paramedics cared for two people in the 4400 block of Pollock Road. One person was transported by air ambulance to the hospital in critical condition, and another transported by ground ambulance in stable condition.
WorkSafeBC was notified of the incident shortly after 6 p.m. that day and launched an investigation.
“The purpose of our investigation is to identify the cause of the incident, including any contributing factors, so that similar incidents can be prevented from happening in the future,” a WorkSafeBC spokesperson said in an email. They could not provide more details during the active investigation.
By Tuesday afternoon, Addy said Coste seems to have stabilized. The incident broke both of Coste’s legs, his pelvis, back, ribs and cracked his skull, among other severe injuries that will require a lengthy hospitalization.
“It’s always my worst nightmare, being a contractor, that something would happen to me and I couldn’t take care of my family,” Addy said. “So when this happened to Kris, that was my first thought.”
In addition to the online fundraiser, artist Brent VandenBroek is auctioning a painting to help raise money for the Coste family. On his social media, the artist said, “This incident hit so close to home because it could have just as easily been me, or anyone in this industry, in Kris’ place on that day.”
Addy said Coste is a great guy who goes out of his way to help his neighbours. When he heard about the incident, Addy phoned his contacts in the construction industry to help pitch in for Coste and his family.
“I think it really touched home for a lot of contractors on the Coast,” Addy said. By the next day, the fundraiser had raised around $10,000. The $50,000 goal on GoFundMe is an arbitrary number, Addy said, “It’s probably going to take a lot more than that.
“At least if we can do that, we can help them get through the next couple of months… Kris can just concentrate on getting better.”