Accident with ladder

Two sons found their dead father in the garden

It has only just become known that a father of a family fell three meters into the ground while working on trees in his garden last week. He unfortunately hit his head and suffered fatal injuries. Particularly tragic: the two young sons found their father dead.

A tragedy took place last Wednesday in Weitersfelden - as has only now become public knowledge: A 59-year-old man was busy limbing a tree in the late afternoon and had leaned a ladder against a branch to do so. However, the branch could not withstand the weight and broke when the father of the family was about three meters up.

Emergency doctor could do nothing more
There were no witnesses to the incident, but the evidence showed that the man from Mühlviertel probably fell on his head and suffered fatal injuries. The victim was found by his two sons (aged twelve and 16). They fetched their mother, who called the emergency services and began resuscitation. But even the emergency doctor could do nothing more for the man, he was probably dead immediately.

15 percent of falls from great heights
Every year, around 4,800 people are injured while gardening in Upper Austria, 65 percent of whom are men. And 15 percent of all gardening accidents are due to "falls from a great height".